Manager Arsène Wenger has said that new tax laws being introduced in Britain will force foreign players in the Premier League to reconsider their careers in the country.
With a recession well underway and the British economy struggling to recover, there have been proposals from the government to introduce a new income tax tier into the system.
The highest tax bracket at the moment is 40 percent, but the new tier being proposed is to impose a 50 percent tax on the super rich. The Frenchman says that this will put the country at a further diadvantage when attempting to attract foreign players to the league compared to other European countries such as Spain and France.
Wenger explained: “The great days of the Premier League will disappear because of pound and tax problems.
“It’s simple, let’s say a man who earned £1million per year [takes home] £600,000 per year. But with 50 percent tax, if you want to keep him at the level of £600,000, you have to increase his wage by 20 per cent. Not every club can afford that.
“On top of that, players who go abroad have tax advantages that we don’t have here. In Spain they pay their first five years only 25 percent, that means it’s a lost battle.
“It is a disadvantage. In France they have made tax rules easier to attract foreign players and they managed to do it now. But here it is not up to me to assess that or judge that but basically it is a disadvantage to the Premier League.
“We are privileged people and we cannot complain about that. If we have to share for the need of the country we have to accept that, but compared to other countries it is a disadvantage.”
