Another good post, but I did say the *whole* of Serie A, which will now include Bologna, Lecce, Chievo Verona** and other teams like Torino who are overwhelmingly composed of Italian players. I only gave the figure 90% arbitrarily so I'm prepared to drop it to 75% but stand by this, it does only seem to be the big 4 bucking the trend.
Meanwhile, in the Premiership, even Bolton field a side glittering with foreign talent.
** Best team in the world in real terms, small village of 1800 people, a sporting miracle.
Originally posted by Ragnorak Doesn't answer why historically only a handful of English players played abroad.
I'd place culture and language barrier high on the list.
True, that's also a big factor.
I do think the money/prestige associated with the league has been important though. Historically not many Spanish, Italian and German players went to other countries either.