He might have been one of the Premier League's most successful ever foreign imports, but that has not stopped Gianfranco Zola from warning against the dangers of having too many overseas stars in the English game.
According to the Chelsea legend, having a reduced core of domestic players has adversely affected the performance of the England national team.
As a result, he advocates the introduction of a quota on foreign players in domestic leagues as suggested by Fifa supremo Sepp Blatter.
"Having so many foreign players is not helpful for the locals," Zola said. "When I first started at Napoli, there were world class players like Maradona and Careca, but you could learn a lot from them and there was also space to play.
"That is difficult now - there are seven or eight foreign players in a team. I think a quota is a good idea to reduce the numbers of foreign players. For the young players it is important to have good players in front of them, but they must also have the hope of playing."
Zola is currently working as a coach for the Italian FA.
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21 October 2010
21 October 2010
21 October 2010
20 October 2010
20 October 2010
