REVEALED: Most Premier League Captains Are Still Home-Grown Rather Than Foreign Imports
The Premier League has been increasingly criticised for being foreign dominated in recent years - foreign players, foreign coaches, foreign owners - but it is perhaps overlooked by cynics that there remains a distinct domestic core at most clubs.
There can be no doubting the positive impact that overseas imports can have in terms of quality, not just through individual players on the pitch but also as a general influence, yet retaining a tangible connection to local roots also retains some importance.
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Virtually every club captain in the Premier League is UK-born. There are 13 English skippers, two from Northern Ireland, and Wes Morgan, who represents Jamaica at international level but was born in Nottingham and has never lived abroad.
The only foreign club captains in the Premier League in 2017/18 will be Arsenal's Per Mertesacker (German), Brighton's Bruno (Spanish), Manchester City's Vincent Kompany (Belgian) and Tottenham's Hugo Lloris (French).
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Foreign players are no less suitable for captaincy roles just because they are from overseas in the same way that domestic players are no more suitable by virtue of being home-grown, yet it remains an interesting observation that would perhaps be unexpected at first glance.
Club | Captain | Nationality |
AFC Bournemouth | Simon Francis | English |
Arsenal | Per Mertesacker | German |
Brighton & Hove Albion | Bruno | Spanish |
Burnley | Tom Heaton | English |
Chelsea | Gary Cahill | English |
Crystal Palace | Jason Puncheon | English |
Everton | Phil Jagielka | English |
Huddersfield Town | Tommy Smith | English |
Leicester City | Wes Morgan | Jamaican (English-born) |
Liverpool | Jordan Henderson | English |
Manchester City | Vincent Kompany | Belgian |
Manchester United | Michael Carrick | English |
Newcastle United | Jamaal Lascelles | English |
Southampton | Steven Davis | Northern Irish |
Stoke City | Ryan Shawcross | English |
Swansea City | Leon Britton | English |
Tottenham Hotspur | Hugo Lloris | French |
Watford | Troy Deeney | English |
West Bromwich Albion | Jonny Evans | Northern Irish |
West Ham United | Mark Noble | English |
