English football players commanding high fees is not difficult to understand, considering the success of young generations of players in Europe. Last Saturday, the England U21 team won the U21 European Championship for the first time since 1984, defeating Spain 1-0 in the final. Many of the talented young players in this championship-winning squad have become targets for top European clubs.
While the England national team did not win the 2022 World Cup, exiting in the quarter-finals against France, they reached the semi-finals in the 2018 World Cup and the final of Euro 2020. The England national team currently ranks fourth in the FIFA rankings and is a contender for the Euro 2024 title.
The U21 European Championship triumph continues a recent trend of success following the U17 World Cup victory in 2017, which featured talented young players like Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White, Emile Smith Rowe, Marc Guehi, Connor Gallagher, Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho, Jude Bellingham, and Bukayo Saka. It is a generation of talented players.
The quality of English football players has significantly improved over the past decade. In the summer of 2013, when clubs spent £630 million in the transfer market, only 10% of that amount was spent on English players.
The highest transfer fees at that time belonged to Andy Carroll (Liverpool to West Ham, £15 million) and Steven Caulker (Tottenham to Cardiff, £8 million), followed by Gary Hooper, Stewart Downing, Tom Huddlestone, Curtis Davies, Dwight Gayle, and Nathan Redmond.
A decade later, the world-record transfer fee until this summer was for English midfielder Bellingham, joining Real Madrid from Dortmund for an initial fee of £88.5 million, potentially rising to £115 million. This record was broken immediately with Declan Rice's transfer from West Ham to Arsenal for £105 million. The fees paid for Mason Mount and James Maddison also ranked in the top 10 this summer.
When it comes to transfer fees, it is often said that English players are overvalued. In the summer of 2021, Harry Maguire was the only English player with a fee exceeding £50 million. Now, three out of the top 12 most expensive players in the world are Bellingham, Rice, and Jack Grealish.
Fees for English players have consistently increased. The difference in 2023 is that the biggest clubs and the best managers feel those fees are worth paying, reflecting a complete shift in an era where English talents risked being left behind.
When Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City a few months ago, he began talking about the quality of English players he had seen in the Premier League, including Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, and Kane (all at Tottenham), as well as John Stones and Raheem Sterling, who played under him.
He also expressed the opinion that English talents were overpriced, and signing these players was "very expensive." However, in recent years, he has welcomed English talents such as Sterling, Walker, Stones, Foden, Grealish, and most recently, Rico Lewis, 18 years old.
English players not only possess talent but also have a deeper understanding of tactics and technique, maintaining the rhythm of the game while excelling in ball control and adapting to positional changes with and without the ball.
Stones and Lewis excel in these aspects, taking risks with the ball and seamlessly transitioning from defense to midfield in a build-up play, in contrast to what previous generations of English players were taught. Now, look at how Stones has developed into a perfect player at Manchester City.
Look at how Trent Alexander-Arnold has become a versatile full-back at Liverpool. Look at the qualities that Rice and Bellingham bring to the central midfield role. Look at Saka, look at Foden.
Look at Musiala and Nmecha. Look at how Colwill, Curtis Jones, Jacob Ramsey, Gordon, Gomes, Gibbs-White, and others have shone in under-21 finals with a distinct modern playing style. The technical standards required have never been higher. In stark contrast to a decade ago, English football players are rising.
The golden generation of English football spans from players born in 1974 (Sol Campbell and Paul Scholes) to those born in 1982 (Jermain Defoe). At least 15 of them have earned 50 or more appearances for the England national team, and seven of them (Gary Neville, David Beckham, Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Owen, Gerrard, Cole) have scored at least 80 goals.
In the next generation, born from 1983 to 1992, only seven players (Rooney, Glen Johnson, Milner, Hart, Gary Cahill, Henderson, and Walker) reached the milestone of 50 caps, and only Rooney reached 80 caps, although Henderson and Walker came close.
Among those born since then, Kane and Sterling have reached 80 appearances for the national team at the end of the 2020s. Stones will continue to play for a long time. Rice, 24, Mount, 24, Foden, 23, Saka, 21, and Bellingham, 20, have already made 36, 25, 28, and 24 appearances, respectively. This is not a coincidence.
In fact, that improvement was ready since 2013. A year earlier, the Premier League introduced the Elite Player Performance Plan, designed to modernize and professionalize the development of young players, demanding more investment in facilities, coach training, and technical development.
One thing can be certain: the England national team has become a championship contender thanks to an exciting generation of players who have developed significantly through their youth national team experiences. It is easy to understand why they are becoming the most expensive and the best players in the world.
