Will THIS have influence over Rafa’s thinking in the transfer market?

Football
FanCast columnist Ed Jeffery wonders if the proposed 6+5 will have an effect on Rafa's thinking in
the transfer market.

The problem with the summer
transfer market these days seems to be the unrelenting predictability of it
all. As we move from Super Sundays to the silly season, it's not hard to guess
what the recurring themes of this summer's round of transfer coverage will be. 

However, with the impending
onset of Fifa's controversial "6 +5" rule, there will be a definite slant this
Summer (as far as the media is concerned
anyway) towards buying English. It doesn't take a genius to work out that
English players tend to be a little overpriced (not to mention overrated), and as home-grown footballers look set
to become the most sought after managerial accessory since those coats with the
manager's initials on the front, this doesn't look like changing any time soon. 

As far as my team, Liverpool,
are concerned, this situation is something of a no-win one. As things stand we
don't have very much money to spend (although
this could all be set to change if Royal Bank of Scotland manage to make
themselves the most popular financial institution on Merseyside by forcing
Gillett & Hicks to sell up), and we have a manager who, for better or
worse, doesn't seem to like buying English players. That's not down to any
xenophobia on his part though, just common sense – why spend £12m on say,
Stewart Downing when for half the price you could probably find ten better
European left wingers.  

For several seasons now,
Benitez has been forced to juggle his finances considerably – and when your
resources are that limited, buying English simply isn't an option. Manchester
United have spent the same period pulling off perhaps the hardest trick in the
book by assembling a side that has not only been successful, but that also
contains a relatively large English contingent. But when you bear in mind that
Ferdinand, Rooney, Hargreaves and Carrick all cost in excess of £18m, it only
goes to prove that quality doesn't come cheap.  

If I think of the players I'd
like to see coming to Anfield this summer from a purely footballing viewpoint,
the only Englishman on the list is Ashley Young. The flying winger hasn't quite
hit the heights he did last season, but he remains a class act, and one who
would genuinely improve the Liverpool side. The media have already started the
inevitable Gareth Barry stories, but that always looked like a pointless move
when it was first mooted twelve months ago – and the contrasting fortunes of
the plodding Barry and the superb Alonso since then should make it a
non-starter this time around. 

The problem is though that
you can no longer look at transfer matters from a purely footballing viewpoint.
The fact remains that, the season after next, phase one of Fifa's plan will see
all Premiership clubs having to field four English players in any given
starting line-up.  At the time of writing, there is only one of the Big
Four who could actually do so. And if Liverpool are going to reach the same
stage, a big shift in thinking will be needed.  

The key question is where
will this all end? Jamie Carragher can't have more than three seasons left in
him and Gerrard isn't getting any younger either. If Fifa's proposed plan does
end up becoming the reality, you could easily imagine Liverpool lining up for
the 2012 – 2013 season with a team that is half Spanish internationals and the
other half callow Scouse apprentices. Because one of the consequences of the
Premiership's love affair with foreign talent is the retarded development of
home-grown talent, it's hard to see any young English players around at the
moment who will be capable of making the step up to play for a top-four side.
That's not to say they don't exist, but in an industry where results are
everything, why would any manager want to risk it all by giving youth a chance?
The Premiership manager who has perhaps the most progressive attitude towards
blooding local youngsters is Gareth Southgate, and he's not going to be a
Premiership manager for much longer. 

Of course, the question of
whether Liverpool will now actively seek to recruit expensive and average
English players is something of an irrelevance, because there is very little
chance, in my opinion, that 6 + 5 will ever be put in place. Nevertheless, only
a fool would not have one eye on the proposed changes, but I'd be surprised to
see any young Englishmen arriving at Anfield over the coming months. Benitez
now has the total control that he craves at Liverpool, and it's no secret that
he is keen to improve the club's academy. If 6 + 5 does become the law, then
Liverpool's comparative lack of funds, along with the dearth of available
English talent, mean that the changes will come from within. 

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