Belgian academics have warned youngsters the Premier League is a bad place to move – and it’s got English clubs worried

Have you heard of Mathias Bossaerts, Indy Boonen or Ismail Azzaoui? What about Jason Lokilo or David Henen or Florent Cuvelier? Ring any bells? No, me neither. That was, until I was made aware of as yet unpublished research conducted by the University of Antwerp exploring whether moving to Premier League clubs is actually detrimental to the careers of talented Belgian teenagers. The answer was a resounding yes.

Turns out it is not only young English players, disillusioned with their failure to break into Premier League first teams, who are being advised to look elsewhere. Now in Belgium, home to some of the world’s best players, teenagers are being warned about the often false promises of English football’s top sides.

This isn’t some idea cooked up in the students’ union bar after much chin-stroking and one too many pints, either. It was commissioned and funded by Stirrs Associates, a leading Belgian football agency which represents Tottenham Hotspur and Belgium defender Toby Alderweireld, and is a few months away from becoming published in a scientific academic journal.

Is English really best?

A couple of years ago, Stirrs Associates genuinely wanted to find the answer to best advise its clientele, many of whom are Belgium’s top teenage players in the youth national teams, whether falling for the magical allure of the Premier League was beneficial across a player’s career. What they discovered is that it is an illusion.

“They can earn money, but in the long-run, will it benefit them?” Stirrs Associates chief executive Stijn Francis told i. “There’s always a bit of discussion around this. English clubs always say: we have the best academy, the best players, they’re paid better, they have better training with the best players. But Belgian clubs say their academies are the same level and they get in the first team earlier.

“If the player’s family says this is money we can’t refuse, we would still understand that they choose to go to England. Earning three times more as a teenager can make a big difference.”

First-team football is crucial

The research suggests this could harm them in the long-term, though. Included in the study are the career paths of more than 80 Belgian players, aged between 15 and 23 from 2005 to 2018.

There are big-name players: Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku. But there are many players English fans will never have heard of, unless you’re fanatical about your club’s youth team.

Bossaerts, a 22-year-old centre-back, was at Manchester City for four years and is now in the Eerste Divisie, the Dutch second division. Winger Boonen, 20, gave up trying at Manchester United last summer [2018] and is at Oostende, facing possible relegation from the Belgian First Division A. Azzaoui, a 21-year-old winger, didn’t make it at Tottenham Hotspur, moved to Wolfsburg but last played on loan at Willem II, a Dutch first division team. The list goes on and on.

And taking a look at the famous successes is revealing. Hazard spent the last two years of his youth development at Lille, in France, and was in the first team for five years before he moved to the Premier League in his early 20s.

Lukaku stayed in Belgium and had three years in Anderlecht’s first team before his Chelsea move. Even then, at 18 years old, he could not break through and has only found success after leaving Stamford Bridge. Perhaps the ultimate example: if De Bruyne can’t break through at Chelsea as a teenager, what chance does anyone have?

Premier League clubs take note

You might have heard of Charly Musonda on the study’s list. He joined Chelsea at 16 and has made three substitute appearances in the Premier League and in a handful of games in domestic cups.

Only two starts, though, and those came in the League Cup. He was talked up for a while. Now aged 22, he failed to make Chelsea’s Under-23 squad for this season and was sent on loan to Vitesse Arnhem, where he is yet to play.

“Getting in at 18 or 19 is so difficult then maybe you lose some game time,” Stijn added. “Research we’ve seen from CIES confirm playing minutes in the first team is crucial for long-term development. For me, also, it’s one of the essential researches we use to advise young players – get in the first team as soon as you can. Get minutes. It’s very difficult at English clubs. Playing with the Under-23s at a Premier League club is not the same as playing in the Belgian first division.”

Premier League clubs are already taking note of the Stirr Associates research and are wary. At least five of them have called Stijn to discuss it. He believes their approach to counteract it will be to buy or partner with clubs across Europe and promise young players first-team minutes there, which many of them already do.

Manchester City own or partner with several clubs around the world. Chelsea partner with Vitesse. Brighton, Cardiff and Leicester all own Belgian clubs.

You get the sense, these days, that if a Premier League club had Lionel Messi among their academy ranks, he would still have to go on loan to a feeder club before being given a chance in the first team.