The Football Association yesterday announced radical plans to cut the number of players from outside the European Union coming into the English game by up to 50 per cent.

The FA wants “mediocre” players to stop taking the place of young English players and are proposing that only Premier League clubs be allowed to sign non-EU players, and also be prevented from sending them out on loan, as part of a number of changes recommended by FA chairman Greg Dyke’s England Commission.

Dyke said: “Everyone recognises the present system is bust.

“The rules say elite non-European players — the very best — should be allowed to come in and we agree with that.

“What we are saying is there are a lot that aren’t the very best, that don’t play that much and do take squad places and a lot particularly in the Football League disappear after a year or so. The system doesn’t work at the moment.

“What we are saying is ‘let the best players come in but give the rest of those squad, places to young English kids.

“We still have the problem of good kids aged 17 and 18 and they are not getting enough competitive football so we are still looking at how we improve that position.”

Furthermore, only players from the top 50-ranked countries in the world could be signed unless the transfer fee is more than a fixed figure, either £10 million or £15m.

An FA statement said: “The defined criteria are designed to result in visas only for those elite sportspeople who are internationally established at the highest level [and] whose employment will make a significant contribution to the development of their sport at the highest level in the UK.”

The issue of a fixed transfer fee is likely to be opposed however, as some players would be available for free if they are at the end of their contract.

The ruling would apply to all players from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Australasia who do not hold EU passports.

The FA will now hold talks with the Premier League, Football League, PFA, LMA and the national FAs of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Dyke said he expected the other stakeholders to come up with their own proposals.

He added: “I think they will come up with other ideas. Everyone recognises the present system is bust. So they will look at it and come up with some ideas and we will look at them.”

A Football League spokesman said: “We will consider the consultation before responding in due course.”