LONDON, June 9: The England football team is paying a heavy price for the commercial success of the English Premier League former England manager Graham Taylor told the BBC on Sunday.

Taylor said the majority of the money pouring into the clubs in the EPL was not being spent on signing English talent and said it had an obvious impact on the national team which has not got to a major semi-final since Euro ‘96.

And Taylor said he didn’t expect the favourite for the Manchester City managerial post Manuel Pellegrini to invest in English players.

“If Manuel Pellegrini comes in, I’ll be amazed if he signs an English player,” he said. “Commercially the Premier League has been a major success but at the expense of English players.

“I think we have all seen this coming. We have got this tremendous amount of money that has now come into football. It means the top clubs are not looking for the best players in England, but the best players in the world.”—AFP