Not sure it is already in effect or if it starts from January, but it should change the outlook. Fifa bans all transfers of under 18s from country to country. An exception is made for EU countries, because that rule was found to violate labour laws regarding movement of workers - as your rights as a worker begin at 16.
With the UK leaving the EU, they’re no longer included in that exemption. There are a few workarounds, for example, if the player lives close to the national border (ala Griezmann), or what happened with Messi where Newell’s Old Boys couldn’t afford to pay for his medical treatment, or generally the most common workaround is if the child’s family move to the country for ‘non-footballing reasons’, like a job. This is what’s used to bring in players under 16 as well, but obviously the costs are higher. Arsenal for example, gave Anto Stokes’ father a job working as a councillor or something for youth players, so he could move across at 14.
Obviously clubs were still signing players this summer. Liverpool, for example, took 1 player from Germany and 2 players from Poland. So I assume it hasn’t taken effect yet, unless they’re using those workarounds...
Pretty sure Evan Ferguson’s planned move to Brighton for this January was cancelled because of that:
https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.the4...n2020/%3famp=1