How Does Brexit Impact Real Madrid?

Even with the political maelstrom enveloping from "Brexit" (Britain's decision to leave the European Union or EU), many are not forgetting the impact this will have on football. In the case of the Premier League, there are some serious waters to be navigated in the years ahead. According to the dailymail,

The Home Office set out criteria for non-EU players to come to English football, demanding that they must have played in a certain percentage of their national team's matches over the two years prior to their application."If this rule was also applied to players from EU countries, more than 100 Premier League players would have failed to gain a work permit.

Extend this to the top two divisions in England and Scotland, and this rises to something like 400.

Among them would be Manchester United striker Anthony Martial, West Ham's Dimitri Payet and Leicester's N'Golo Kante, all of whom are relatively new to the France side.

It is unlikely that Britain's biggest stars will get kicked out of the English Premier League, but the possibility of future restrictions makes it easy to imagine a league where acquiring the new hottest property from Spain or Germany is near impossible.

This has obvious positive implications for Real Madrid. When Britain eventually does leave the EU and if these regulations are imposed, a major competitor in the world market for players will be nearly eliminated. This means the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern can swallow up the next Anthony Martial or next Eden Hazard.

However it is more likely that there is a caveat created where EU football players have an easier immigration process, thus still allowing the Premier League to dip their financial power into the European transfer market. This cuts short the plans of Real Madrid to attain European dominance but it is likely that some disadvantages for the Premier League may be created (a push for a focus on more homegrown talent might do this).

The bigger impact is with the acquisition of young players aged 16-18.

'Article 19 of the FIFA Regulations, concerning the Status and Transfer of Players, permits the 'transfers of minors between the age of 16 and 18 within the EU or EEA [European Economic Area].'

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico, Bayern Munich, PSG + Juventus are happy today. Premier League clubs are not. pic.twitter.com/UgyFZJsdoJ

— Jake Cohen (@JakeFCohen) June 24, 2016

This means that when Britain leaves the EU, they will no longer be granted the advantage of transferring minors like the rest of the EU. The FA might find a way to negotiate around this, but as of now the likes of Real Madrid have a much clearer path to obtaining starlets in the future.

There is another consequence to Real Madrid and other clubs. News of Brexit has seen the value of the pound drop, with investors possibly losing confidence and therefore demand in the currency. This means that it will be more expensive for the Premier League to buy other players. This is because Premier League clubs will now need to use more of their currency to buy the euro, which is the currency used in buying players. The dailymail notes that this has immediate implications:

The 40m Euro offer made by West Ham for Marseille's Michy Batshuayi has already risen from £31m last week to £34m now before of the falling pound against the Euro.

This means that Premier League clubs will possibly be warier of buying expensive talents unless they try to negotiate the deal in Pounds. This is a likely solution for EU clubs to accept if they are keen on selling players. In Real Madrid's case, if they wish to sell James like many of the rumors suggest, they can work around England's possible unwillingness to sign big players by negotiating the deal in pounds.

So if Real Madrid intend to sell James to England, they will most definitely see a spike in revenue from the transfer fee.

But this brings up another question. Don't Real Madrid have to sell James? After all, now that Britain has left the EU Bale is now considered a non-EU player right? Thankfully no. Brexit is not immediate and by the time that it happens, Bale will be granted full Spanish citizenship. This means that the pressure to sell James remains the same as it was before.

Overall, Brexit looks to have given Real Madrid a short-term advantage when selling players to the Premier League and a long-term advantage in signing starlets from 16-18 years old.