I went to France with nothing more than un, deux, trois and bonjour and had one of the best experiences of my life as a striker with Marseilles. I’d hate to think that footballers from outside the EU would be denied a similar opportunity because bureaucrats don’t realise or understand that being a sportsman is a unique profession. You don’t need to speak English to be a footballer in Britain. If you’re a player, you already understand the universal language of football. It’s about instinct, not vocabulary; skill, not grammar. Anyway, the kind of language footballers use is not the sort you would use in everyday life. “Over here, on me ’ead mate!” will get you farther than an ability to discuss politics or buy a train ticket. In France I quickly picked up the dressing-room banter and slang. Within a few weeks I knew about 20 key phrases that helped me do my job: cross, pass, corner, one-two. Je fais une passe au deuxieme poteau (I’m sending it to the back post, as we’d say).

Almost all foreign players will speak good English after a couple of years – often better than native teammates. Yes, star players can afford lessons, but sometimes transfers happen almost overnight, so there’s not time to cram.

English clubs could lose out on targets, and the Premier League may suffer. It worries me that the rules will discriminate against players from poor nations with little education. They’re footballers so leave them be and let their feet do the talking.

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