Is the Importance of Home Grown Players Lost?

There is a perception in most English clubs that foreign players have more quality than locals; others argue that they add a new dimension to their respective teams.

The presence of African and South American players can be widely felt not just in England but in other major European countries like Spain, France, Italy, and Germany.

Perhaps that's the way football is heading for these days and needless to say, football is no longer a kick of the ball, then again, perhaps it never was in the first place.

Football is more about business than the game itself. Controversial? Perhaps it is, but the commercial side of the game has been deeply exploited by high profile takeovers and staggering signings.

Sitting down to watch a game in the Premier League, you'd find even the "small-town" clubs like Blackburn featuring players like Paraguay's Roque Santa Cruz.

Is it quality entertainment? Hell Yes!

I'd pay to watch Mikel Arteta rather than Jermaine Jenas but how about the standard of the game?

Let's not even talk about the national team—yes, England's national side has suffered due to the overdose of foreign players.

Let's look at Arsenal.

Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Toure, Clichy, Walcott, Denilson, Fabregas, Nasri, Adebayor and Van Persie.

I'm not targetting Arsenal or any of Wenger's strategies, I'm just pulling out an example...

There was a time when the likes of Manchester United featured David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, and Nicky Butt in the same team but now, "MONEY TALKS".

The question to be asked of managers like Fulham's Roy Hodgson is, "why groom an academy chap when we've got the millions to bring in Kamara?"

At the same time, we have academies like Lyon and Sporting Lisbon who are known to produce gems like Karim Benzema and Joao Moutinho.

Enough said. Your verdict?