Here Are the European Premier League Players Who Might Not Get Work Permits After Brexit

Yesterday, Britain voted to leave the European Union. The decision will have profound economic consequences for both the EU and Britain. It also poses an interesting question for European citizens currently living in Britain. A founding tenet of the Union is the principle of free movement. As a member of the EU, Britain allowed EU citizens to live and work inside Britain without a work permit. That is likely to change. The consequences of this change will be felt across the country, but they are likely to be most visible in the sports world, particularly in the Premier League.

Nobody knows exactly how the work permit rules will change, but as of right now the Premier League has certain rules for foreign players (i.e. those from outside Britain and the EU.) They’re fairly complicated, having to do both with the rank of a player’s national team and the number of appearances he made with his national team over the preceding two years.

In order to automatically qualify for a work permit today, a non-EU player representing a team in the top 10 of the FIFA rankings must have played in 30 percent of his competitive national team fixtures over the last two seasons. Friendlies don’t count. For a player representing a national team ranked 11-20, he must play in 45 percent of the matches from the preceding two years. Players from teams ranked 21-30 need to play in 60 percent and those from teams ranked 31-50, 75 percent. Players from a team ranked higher than 50 need to make a special application for a work permit.

Here at VICE Sports, we were curious what would happen if the current work permit rules were applied to regular EU players and those players living outside the EU but inside the free-movement area, now that Britain is no longer part of the EU. We went through the current rosters of all 20 Premier League teams and listed their European players below. (Some rosters include players back form loan spells and/or new transfers.) We then looked at each player to see if he met the current criteria to automatically receive a work permit. Keep in mind, these are just automatic qualifications. It is possible to appeal the process and get a work permit even if a player doesn’t automatically qualify, but the appeals are taken on a case-by-case basis. This is particularly important as you look at the number of French players who don’t qualify. France automatically qualified for the Euros as the host team. Its last competitive fixture, prior to the Euro Cup, was in the quarterfinals of the 2014 World Cup.

The total number of first team European players came to 191. Of that total, just 56 would be eligible to receive a work permit should they have to apply based on their national team appearances prior to the Euro Cup or Copa America (some players with European passports represent teams outside Europe, like U.S. international DeAndre Yedlin, who has a Latvian passport as a result of having a Latvian grandparent).

The work permit rules were the result of negotiations between the British Home Office and the Premier League. There’s no reason they couldn’t renegotiate these requirements. So it’s not as though the players on this list will be rounded up and put on a boxcar headed down the Channel. The list does, however, show just how messy this Brexit thing is. Millions of people living in Britain—Premier League stars included—are now living with a question mark over their immigration and work statuses.

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AFC Bournemouth (3)

Harry Arter – Ireland – Yes (Born in Britain)

Joshua King – Norway – Would not qualify (Norway is not an EU country but is part of the free movement zone. The national team is not a top 50 team)

Eunan O’Kane – Ireland – Would not qualify

Emerson Hyndman – U.S. and Portuguese citizenship – Would not qualify

Arsenal (11)

Per Mertesacker, Germany (retired from international football in 2014) – Would not qualify

Laurent Koscielny, France – Yes

Mesut Ozil, Germany – Yes

Olivier Giroud, France – Yes

Nacho Monreal, Spain – Would not qualify

Santi Cazorla, Spain – Yes

Hector Bellerin, Spain – Would not qualify

Serge Gnabry, Germany – Would not qualify

Granit Xhaka, Switzerland – Yes

Petr Cech, Czech Republic – Yes

Francis Coquelin, France – Would not qualify

Burnley (4)

Rouwen Hennings – Germany – Would not qualify

Fredrik Ulvestad – Norway – Would not qualify

Stephen Ward – Ireland – Would not qualify. (Played in 6 of 12 competitive internationals.)

Kevin Long – Ireland – Would not qualify

Branislav Ivanović. Photo by EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT

Chelsea (19)

Asmir Begović – Bosnia – Yes

Branislav Ivanović – Serbia – Would not qualify. (Not a top 50 nation)

Kurt Zouma – France – Would not qualify

Cesc Fàbregas – Spain – Yes

Eden Hazard – Belgium – Yes

Thibaut Courtois – Belgium – Yes

Pedro – Spain – Yes

Loïc Rémy – France – Would not qualify

Diego Costa – Spain – Yes

Nemanja Matić – Serbia – Would not qualify. (Not a top 50 nation)

César Azpilicueta – Spain – Would not qualify

Nathan Benjamin Aké – Netherland – Would not qualify

Matej Delač – Croatia – Would not qualify

Tomáš Kalas – Czech Republic – Would not qualify

Danilo Pantić – Serbia – Would not qualify (Not a top 50 nation)

Jeremie Boga – France – Would not qualify

Marco van Ginkel – Netherlands – Would not qualify

Mario Pašalić – Croatia – Would not qualify

Marko Marin – Germany – Would not qualify

Crystal Palace (2)

Yohan Cabaye – France – Yes

Damien Delaney – Ireland – Would not qualify (Retired from international soccer.)

Everton (10)

Joel Robles – Spain – Would not qualify

Darron Gibson – Ireland – Yes (Born in Britian)

Aiden McGeady – Ireland – Yes (McGeady also holds Scottish citizenship)

Romelu Lukaku – Belgium – Yes

Kevin Mirallas – Belgium – Would not qualify (Played 4 of 15 competitive fixtures.)

James McCarthy – Ireland – Would not qualify. (Played in 8 of 12 competitive fixtures.)

Muhamed Bešić – Bosnia – Yes

Gerard Deulofeu – Spain – Would not qualify

Séamus Coleman – Ireland – Would not qualify. (Played in 8 of 12 competitive fixtures.)

Shanji Tarashaj – Switzerland – Would not qualify

Hull City (4)

David Meyler – Ireland – Would not qualify. (Played in 4 of 12 competitive fixtures.)

Adama Diomandé – Norway – Would not qualify

Dušan Kuciak – Slovakia – Would not qualify

Brian Lenihan – Ireland – Would not qualify

Leicester City (8)

Kasper Peter Schmeichel – Denmark – Yes

Ritchie De Laet – Belgium – would not qualify

N’Golo Kanté – France – would not qualify

Robert Huth – Germany – would not qualify

Marcin Wasilewski – Poland – Would not qualify (He retired from international football in 2013.)

Christian Fuchs – Austria – Yes

Gökhan İnler – Switzerland – Yes

Ron-Robert Zieler – Germany – would not qualify

Liverpool (17)

Loris Karius, Germany – Would not qualify

Dejan Lovren, Croatia – Would not qualify

Christian Benteke, Belgium – Yes

Mamadou Sakho, France – Yes

Alberto Moreno, Spain – Would not qualify

Simon Mignolet, Belgium – Would not qualify

Emre Can. Germany – Would not qualify

Tiago Ilori, Portugal – Would not qualify

Divock Origi, Belgium – Yes

Adam Bogdan, Hungary – Would not qualify

Martin Skrtel, Slovakia – Yes

Mario Balotelli, Italy – Would not qualify

Lazar Markovic, Serbia – Would not qualify. (Not a top 50 nation)

Sergi Canos, Spain – Would not qualify

Pedro Chirivella, Spain – Would not qualify

Luis Alberto, Spain – Would not qualify

Marko Grujic, Serba – Would not qualify

Manchester City (10)

Bacary Sagna – France – Would not qualify

Vincent Kompany – Belgium – Yes

Samir Nasri – France – would not qualify (Has not played for France since 2013)

Aleksandar Kolarov – Serbia – Would not qualify (Not a top 50 nation)

Jesús Navas – Spain – Would not qualify

Kevin De Bruyne – Belgium – Yes

Eliaquim Mangala – France – Would not qualify

David Silva – Spain – Yes

Gaël Clichy – France – Would not qualify

İlkay Gündoğan – Germany – Yes

David de Gea. Photo by Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

Manchester United (12)

David de Gea – Spain – would not qualify

Memphis Depay – Netherlands – Yes

Juan Mata – Spain – Yes

Anthony Martial – France – Would not qualify

Adnan Januzaj – Belgium – Would not qualify

Daley Blind – Netherlands – Yes

Ander Herrera – Spain – Would not qualify

Marouane Fellaini – Belgium – yes

Morgan Schneiderlin – France – Would not qualify

Bastian Schweinsteiger – Germany – Yes

Matteo Darmian – Italy – Yes

Timothy Fosu-Mensah – Netherland – Would not qualify

Middlesbrough (5)

Dimitrios Konstantopoulos, Greece – Would not qualify

Daniel Ayala, Spain – Would not qualify

Tomas Mejias, Spain – Would not qualify

Julien De Sart, Belgium – Would not qualify

Viktor Fischer, Denmark – Would not qualify

Southampton (8)

Cédric – Portugal – Would not qualify (Played 3 of 11 competitive fixtures)

Jordy Clasie – Netherlands – Would not qualify

Florin Gardoș – Romania – Would not qualify

Shane Long – Ireland – Yes

Dušan Tadić – Serbia – Would not qualify. (Not a top 50 nation)

Oriol Romeu – Spain – Would not qualify

Graziano Pellè – Italy – Yes

Virgil van Dijk – Netherland – Would not qualify

Stoke City (17)

Erik Pieters, Holland – Would not qualify

Marc Muniesa, Spain – Would not qualify

Glenn Whelan, Republic of Ireland – Yes

Stephen Ireland, Republic of Ireland – Would not qualify

Marko Arnautovic, Austria – Yes

Joselu, Spain – Would not qualify

Marc Wilson, Republic of Ireland – Yes (born in Britain)

Ibrahim Afellay, Netherlands – Would not qualify

Jonathan Walters, Republic of Ireland – Yes (Holds a British passport.)

Giannelli Imbula, France – Would not qualify

Xherdan Shaqiri, Switzerland – Yes

Dionatan Teixeira, Slovakia – Would not qualify

Shay Given, Republic of Ireland – Would not qualify

Philipp Wollscheid, Germany – Would not qualify

Bojan, Spain – Would not qualify

Jakob Haugaard, Denmark – Would not qualify

Daniel Bachmann, Austria – Would not qualify

Sunderland (9)

Patrick van Aanholt – Netherlands – Would not qualify

Sebastian Larsson – Sweden – Yes

Fabio Borini – Italy – Would not qualify

Jordi Gómez – Spain – Would not qualify

John O’Shea – Ireland – Yes

Younès Kaboul – France – Would not qualify

Jeremain Lens – Netherlands – Yes

Vito Mannone – Italy – Would not qualify

Jan Kirchhoff – Germany – Would not qualify

Swansea City (9)

Łukasz Fabiański – Poland – Yes

Jordi Amat – Spain – Would not qualify

Marvin Emnes – Netherlands – Would not qualify

Kristoffer Nordfeldt – Sweden – Would not qualify

Franck Tabanou – France – Would not qualify

Bafétimbi Gomis – France – Would not qualify

Gylfi Sigurðsson – Iceland – Yes (Not in the EU but part of the free movement area)

Àngel Rangel – Spain – Would not qualify

Gerhard Tremmel – Germany – Would not qualify

Erik Lamela. Photo by Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Tottenham Hotspur (11)

Hugo Lloris – France – Yes

Michel Vorm – Netherlands – Would not qualify

Toby Alderweireld – Belgium – Yes

Jan Vertonghen – Belgium – Yes

Kevin Wimmer – Austria – Would not qualify

DeAndre Yedlin – Latvian citizen, USA international – Yes

Nabil Bentaleb – French citizen, Algeria international – Would not qualify

Mousa Dembele – Belgium – Would not qualify

Christian Eriksen – Denmark – Yes

Nacer Chadli – Belgium – Yes

Erik Lamela – Spanish citizen, Argentina international – Would not qualify

Watford (18)

Costel Pantilimon – Romania – Would not qualify

Rene Gilmart – Ireland – Would not qualify

Sebastian Prodl – Austria – Yes

Gabrielle Angella – Italy – Would not qualify

Joel Ekstrand – Sweden – Would not qualify

Jose Holebas – Greece – Would not qualify

Daniel Pudil – Czech Republic – Would not qualify

Allan Nyom – French citizenship, Cameroon international – Would not qualify

Etienne Capoue – France – Would not qualify

Mario Suarez – Spain – Would not qualify

Valon Behrami – Swiss – Yes

Adlene Guedioura – French passport, Algeria international – Would not qualify

José Manuel Jurado – Spain – Would not qualify

Almen Abdi – Swiss – Would not qualify

Steven Berghuis – Netherlands – Would not qualify

Nordin Amrabat – Dutch citizen, Morocco international – Would not qualify

Obbi Oulare – Belgium – No

Matej Vydra – Czech Republic – would not qualify

West Brom (4)

Jonas Olsson, Sweden – Would not qualify

James McClean, Republic of Ireland – Yes (born in Britain)

Sebastien Pocognoli, Belgium – Would not qualify

Anders Lindegaard, Denmark – Would not qualify

West Ham (11)

Adrian – Spain – Would not qualify

Darren Randolph – Ireland – Yes

Raphael Spiegel – Switzerland – Would not qualify

Winston Reid – Danish citizenship, New Zealand international – Would not qualify

Angelo Ogbonna – Italy – Would not qualify

Joe O’Brien – Ireland – Would not qualify

Cheikhou Kouyaté – Belgian citizenship, Senegal international – Yes, qualifies with Senegal

Dimitri Payet – France – Would not qualify

Pedro Obiang – Spain – Would not qualify

Manuel Lanzini – Italian citizenship – Would not qualify

Diafra Sakho – French citizenship – Would not qualify

Jim Weeks, Aaron Gordon, and Will Magee contributed research for this story.