The Premier League is preventing England from winning an international trophy

THE cash cow that is the Premier League is killing England’s chances of winning a major trophy.

By David Woods, Chief Football Writer

CHANCE: Rashford only played for Manchester United because of injuries

It was ironic that on the day the Three Lions crashed out of Euro 2016 to little Iceland, Crystal Palacewere ready to spend big - having a £32m bid accepted by Marseille for Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi.

He won’t be the last highly-priced import as top-flight clubs rush to spend their share of the new £5.2m Premier League deal this summer.

If things start going wrong in the first half of the season they won’t be thinking ‘there’s a young English kid who can help get us out of trouble’. Bosses will be splashing the cash to sign players from outside England to avoid the dreaded drop into the land of the ‘have-nots’.

Marcus Rashford came on for England against Iceland near the end and looked the only player in the team willing to have a go at the Icelanders.

But the truth is we probably would not even know his name if Manchester United had not suffered an injury crisis at a time when they could not go into the transfer market.

How many Marcus Rashfords are there out there, who will not get a chance to show what they can do?

Instead they will just wait and wait in vane for their chance in the youth team or be shipped out on loans to lower league clubs, bringing all the uncertainty and pressure that brings for players who are just kids.

FA chairman Greg Dyke tried to address the problem of our young players not getting a chance but failed to get that much support and is understood to be bitterly disappointed that his campaign failed to get any real backing.

Like Mr Creosote in Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, The Premier League just keeps getting fatter and fatter. But at what cost?