IMAGINE the English Premier League without Carlos Tevez banging in crucial goals for Man United.

For that matter, what if Eduardo, Elano, Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Mascherano are also missing from the EPL.

Sure these players can juggle a ball like a seal, score crucial goals and make the odd crunching tackle, but the question being asked of non European Union footballers and managers now is, 'Can you speak English?'

With tougher new immigration rules being introduced this year, non-European footballers or managers who want to come to the United Kingdom to work but cannot speak English, will be barred from plying their trade on UK soil.

The introduction of a new points-based system covering skilled migrants from outside Europe applying to work in Britain includes the requirement that these migrants must take an English language test covering everyday phrases and simple conversation.

Immigration Minister Liam Byrne, said: 'I am afraid they will have to speak English. We do not want people coming to work alone.

'It is a basic requirement that they have some command of English.'

According to the Home Office document, these footballers and managers would need to demonstrate 'an ability to understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases, to introduce themselves and others and ask and answer questions about basic personal details'.

This means that if these rules had been in place last year, the likes of Tottenham's Berbatov, Man United's Tevez and Park Ji Sung, Arsenal's Eduardo and Alexander Hleb would have joined over 20,000 migrants who would have been barred from working in the UK.

Some quarters have questioned the need for this ruling on footballers, calling on the Home Office to 'let them (footballers) be and let their feet do the talking'.

However, the Home Office have made it clear that the policy is here to stay as it would have cut down the number of immigrants by over 10 per cent if it had been implemented last year.

'Our new points system means that British jobseekers get the first crack of the whip and that only skilled migrants we actually need will be able to come,' he said.

'These rules won't affect the movement of people in Europe but will create a much tighter regime for anyone who wants to go to the UK from outside Europe.

'By moving points up or down, we can make sure the numbers we allow into the UK are in line with the needs of business and the country as a whole.'

It is likely that this new ruling is in response to the flood of foreign players and coaches into the EPL since increased TV revenues allowed clubs to pay some of the biggest salaries of any football league in Europe.

AWARENESS

There is heightened awareness of English football losing its 'English-ness', with English footballers being increasingly marginalised at English clubs.

One example is Arsenal, who have often fielded teams without a single British player, while their manager, Arsene Wenger, is a Frenchman.

Even England's new manager Fabio Capello, an Italian, has had to conduct press conferences in his native language, claiming his English is not up to the mark.

With the announcement of this new ruling though, several upcoming transfers for non-EU footballers may have to be put on hold, or scuppered altogether.

While Spurs will breathe a sigh of relief after having already signed Croatia's Luka Modric, the likes of Wigan Athletic, who are keen on Egyptian Amr Zaki and Portsmouth, who hope to sign Brazilian Luisao, will be sweating into their cheque books.

Non-European footballers and managers looking to work in the UK maybe intimidated by this new ruling, but they can console themselves with this: It could have been worse. The Government originally planned to insist that non-EU footballers and managers had to understand English up to GCSE level.

'We had originally suggested this (requiring everybody to have English to GCSE level), but a lot of people thought that was going over the top.'

It is apparent the Home Office has little sympathy for the footballers' linguistic plight.

'Footballers earn enough money to pay for professional tuition,' Byrne quipped.

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