EU referendum: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said pre-Brexit 'remaining among ourselves doesn't work'

English football is coming to terms with a decidedly different new landscape

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (Getty)

Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, voiced concerns before the United Kingdom elected to leave the European Union that English football would be drained of its quality.

After the Leave campaign defeated Remain with 51.9 per cent of the vote in the referendum on the UK’s membership on Thursday, English football is coming to terms with a decidedly different new landscape.

Speaking before the vote this week, the Frenchman told beIN Sports: “The modern world can create fear but maybe we have to think as well about potential.

“I can understand that people are scared to lose their culture, but the world will only survive if we work all together. That’s what I believe.”

But Wenger was more keen to discuss the ramifications of Brexit on football and argued that quality may prove harder for English clubs to find.

“In life you have to be confronted with quality, to improve you have to be confronted with quality,” he added.

“To ignore the quality and say let’s remain amongst ourselves doesn’t work, because now they are controlling with the best players in the world.”