Today, Solskjær had not been allowed to coach United.

Now the eye of the needle is narrowing for anyone who dreams of working in English football.

Briefly about the case

• Footballers from the EU and EEA had not previously had to obtain a work permit to play in the UK. As a result of Brexit, EU and EEA players joining British football as of January 1 must apply for a work permit before they can play in the UK.
• If a player receives a call Governing Body Support (GBE) will be decided on the basis of a points-based system. The number of points a player gets depends, among other things, on how many club matches and international matches they have played. The level of the club to which the player in question belongs will also be taken into account.
• The same regulations will also apply to managers and coaches.

That Manchester United chose Ole Gunnar Solskjær when they were to replace José Mourinho just before Christmas in 2018 hit like a bomb in the British Isles. The Norwegian had a long and successful career playing for the club. However, as a coach, he had less to show for than his predecessors. Two years later, the 47-year-old is still a topic of discussion in the UK.

If United had wanted to sign Solskjær today, a new set of rules would have stopped him. As of January 1, all players, trainers and coaches coming from EU and EEA countries must obtain one Governing body approval (GBE) to be able to work in the UK.

The system will award points based on several different factors. With Molde’s head coach experience and a short stay in Cardiff as the only things to refer to before becoming Manchester United manager, Solskjær would have his GBE application rejected. Writes the AFP news agency.

Brexit will affect British football in a number of ways in the future.

National team matches are becoming more and more valuable

– This is a compromise in which the intention is that you can still get the best foreigners, but the idea is also that it will be more difficult to get mediocre foreigners who are cheaper to handle than comparable English players, says Lars Sivertsen to Aftenposten.

He is a football writer and lives in London.

To obtain a work permit, a player must earn 15 points.

It can be done in several ways. The English Football Association (FA), the Premier League and the English Football League (EFL) have divided all the world’s leagues into six different levels. A player gets points based on the proportion of games he has played for his club during the season.

Playing in a Danish Superligaen club (level 5) will give more points than playing in an Elite Series club (level 6). If any of the Molde’s players dream of a transfer to British football, they can be happy that matches at international club tournaments also yield points.

While national team football has long been the subject of conflict between clubs and national associations, national team games are now becoming increasingly important to every player.

If the country the player comes from has 50 or more on the FIFA rankings, a player over the age of 21 will automatically qualify for a work permit if they have played 70 percent or more of the country’s matches during the last two years. However, if the country is between 1st and 10th place in the FIFA rankings, it is considered to have played 30% of the country’s matches.

In the same way, the matches in the championships of sub-national teams also give important points.

Longest path from Norwegian to British football

So what do the new rules on work permits mean in practice?

The path from Norwegian to British football is getting longer. An elite league player will not be able to accumulate enough points to obtain a work permit in the UK, unless he can also refer to the matches of national teams from a country that is relatively high in the FIFA rankings. This means that Norway-based players who want to play British football will have to take an intermediate step.

Clubs that were previously good at thinking of new things when it comes to recruiting players, often because they are not as strong as the best clubs, will have to find a new strategy.

London club Brentford have previously stood out by signing several Danish soccer players. It will be much more difficult in the future, because the Super League is ranked at level 5 out of 6. Therefore, clubs like Brentford will have to find other markets that they can supply.

Anyone who fears that the new rules mean that the best players in the world will not qualify for a work permit can breathe a sigh of relief. Regular play in the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga or Serie A will give up to 12 points. So a player only needs to accumulate three more points.

Collaborative clubs are increasingly important

Clubs can still buy players who will not qualify for a work permit. They will then need to ensure that the player somehow accumulates enough points to obtain a work permit at a later date. This is where partner clubs come in.

Chelsea is one of the major British clubs that has had such a club for several years. The Premier League club has sent several players on loan to the Vitesse. After having had playing time in the Honor Division, the highest level in Dutch football, they have been brought home or sold.

In the future, getting players to qualify for a work permit will be a useful strategy.

– The bottom line is that for the bigger clubs very little will change, while for the smaller clubs that like to get a little creative, some opportunities will disappear, says Sivertsen.

You cannot sign players until they are 18 years old.

The best British clubs will also not be able to sign players until they are 18 years old.

Players from EU and EEA countries have been exempted for almost two decades from the ban on international transfers for minors. Therefore, players have been able to sign for British clubs after their 16th birthday. Several Norwegian players have done it, most recently Bryan Fiabema. He signed for Chelsea in January this year, a month before his 17th birthday. A signing like that cannot be done by the clubs now.

The FA hopes to put an end to foreign talent hoarding. Therefore, clubs also cannot bring more than three foreign players under the age of 21 per person. transition window and no more than six by. season. It will give English talents better conditions for growth, the association hopes.

Not set in stone

Regarding the new rules on work permits, the transition window in January will be a pilot project. After that, the British soccer jerseys will sit together again. They will then consider whether the rules should be changed to some degree before the transition window in the summer of 2021.

However, they seem to think they have found a good solution.

Although we initially had very different views on how Brexit should affect football, this is another example of how we can work together for the best of all, said Mark Bullingham, CEO of FA, when the new regulations were ready.

If all parties are equally satisfied after January, time will tell.

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