England's top players increasingly choosing clubs overseas
Anthony Gordon joined Barcelona from Newcastle in the summer, and he is one of three England internationals — alongside Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham — who now play their club football outside England.
The Premier League remains widely regarded as the most competitive league in the world, but that status has not prevented high-profile English players seeking moves abroad to raise their individual profiles. Since Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or in 2008 only Rodri in 2024 was based in England when named the world's best player, and Michael Owen in 2001 was the last Englishman to win while playing domestically. The exodus accelerated after Jadon Sancho's move to Borussia Dortmund in 2017 and is reflected in the initial Three Lions squad, where seven of 25 were playing outside England.
England manager Thomas Tuchel highlighted the recent influence of those who have left the domestic game, saying: "Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane were decisive for us in the World Cup and I see no reason they won't be in the future." He added: "It's good that Anthony has stepped up now. He is the third one. There is obviously a relevance to them playing abroad but I don't see that a player who plays in the Premier League cannot step up and be decisive for us." Tuchel pointed to goals and assists from those three as decisive at the World Cup and during the last international break.
The Football Association's technical director John McDermott said there are currently 43 English players on the FA's radar playing their club football in Europe and described that as a "huge positive." McDermott told BBC Sport: "I spoke to a couple of the boys that are playing abroad at the moment." He added: "The exposure they get in those leagues, playing Champions League or European football, where you're not necessarily having to bang out 55 games, but you still have got time to do your weight training and your gym work." He contrasted that with the EFL: "Often if you're playing in the English competition or in the EFL, where it's 46 games - you know it's game, game, game, which is fantastic - but for some players that opportunity to get the training in-between and to practise developing on technique or other areas, there's benefits to that."
McDermott, who worked previously at Tottenham Hotspur, argued that moving abroad can aid personal development and gave a technical example from Kieran Trippier's return from Atletico Madrid. "I remember when Trips (Kieran Trippier) came back, and Trips was a good player, but when he came back from Atletico (Madrid) I noticed he was just maybe tighter technically and noticed there was a change that Kieran came back with," he said. He conceded: "So I'm not sure if he's respected more ... but I think you want all of the players - whether they stay in England [or not] - every six months you see this sort of incremental step where they've added something, another dimension to the game." McDermott added: "And I've seen that with Anthony already and some of the other boys. They come back, it's four months since you've seen them and there's another dimension there."
On broader development pathways, McDermott noted domestic experience still matters and pointed to players who progressed through the EFL before moving abroad. "There's all different ways, I don't think there's this elixir, I don't think there's this magic formula, 'this is the way'," he said, and recalled that Jarell Quansah and Jobe Bellingham also played in the EFL earlier in their careers. England reached the semi-finals of the World Cup for just the third time in their history in the summer.
When asked if a larger contingent of players abroad could change England's style, McDermott said: "Yeah, possibly. Again don't underestimate if you're playing now in the Champions League at an English club." He added: "We would like more players in the pipeline. I think at the moment we're on about 26% or 27% English-qualified players playing the Premier League. We've got 40 to 50 players playing at Champions League quality and playing in European football, top Premier League clubs, so let's not underestimate our own product."
On the individual profiles involved, England's record goalscorer, appearance maker and captain Harry Kane is playing his club football in Germany with Bayern Munich, while Jude Bellingham, who left Birmingham for Borussia Dortmund and now plays for Real Madrid, has never appeared in the Premier League. Since his move to Barcelona this summer, Gordon has three goals and five assists in 15 appearances in all competitions and is frequently deployed in a front line with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha. The article also noted that Arsenal's approach for Vinicius Jr this summer was always going to be hard to complete as "the famous white shirt and lifestyle in Madrid is, for most players, the pinnacle."
Gordon said in an ITV interview: "I always felt in England, people respected me because I was fast and I pressed, but they never actually respected the quality and IQ that I play with." At the World Cup he assisted both of Kane's goals in the last-32 win over DR Congo, won a penalty in England's last-16 win over Mexico and scored the goal to put England ahead in the semi-final against Argentina. Kane said the winger is "showing that he belongs at the highest level, for Barcelona and England" and that Gordon is "relishing" being one of England's "main men", while Dominic Calvert-Lewin added: "The fact that we've got top-level English players playing abroad now at top European clubs, I think it's only good for English football and us as a national team. You see they bring different experiences that they're learning from overseas and they bring it into this group and I think as you can see they're only growing in confidence and as players and I think it's only a positive thing." McDermott concluded that "the England manager has got to try and find that singular blend when they come back of the English players, the Spanish players, the German players, the Italian players, it's all sort of an eclectic mix that they're bringing."