West Ham, Tottenham, Middlesbrough, Everton and Reading could be used as examples of clubs that are regularly naming a majority of British-born players to their starting squads. The other side would be that of Arsenal, who regularly field teams without a single UK-born player, or Liverpool, Manchester United, and Chelsea, who field sides with very few British players.

This piece originated in discussion on the transfer market, and it is important to continue in the same vein of discourse in order to finalise my thoughts. On that subject, another interesting development is that British-born talent is much more expensive to purchase and the transfer of British players from one club to another is a rarity within the transfer windows. Generally, if it does occur, it is for an obscene amount of money and is heavily criticised. Some examples that spring to mind are those of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Michael Carrick.

There are several reasons for this inflation. First of all, supporters of clubs seem to enjoy having a compatriot playing at the highest level that they can identify with. ‘'He used to live near me!’' you can hear them thinking, almost as if they have an impersonal connection with the football star. In other cases, it is a bidding war that is set off by one club who openly state their intentions to purchase the player, sparking other clubs who have massive budgets to take notice. In the case of Wright-Phillips, it was widely speculated that he would be transferred to the club of his stepfather, Ian Wright, a massive Arsenal star and England international.

For a young player like Shaun, who had performed well at Manchester City and had received good feedback from his appearances at international level,  you would assume a price could be set at about £10-12m. That, it must be said, would be a fair price for such a player who has not won any awards, trophies or scored too many memorable goals.

Instead, he was a player who had put in several integral performances for City, and helped contribute to a season where the club over-achieved. He had proven to be bigger than the club, and his best interests would be served if he chose to move to a larger club where he could have the opportunity to be recognised for the senior national squad, and play European football.

Ultimately, Wright-Phillips' fate was sealed when Manchester City came to the conclusion that, while a £13m bid from Arsenal would be better for Shaun’s career, one of £22m from Chelsea would help alleviate the club's debt. He has hardly played at Chelsea, languishing on the sidelines.