Brexit will lead to 400 aces leaving Premier League football clubs

PREMIER League football clubs squads could be badly hit if Britain leaves the EU, experts warned yesterday.

UNDER THREAT: European Union passport holders Payet

More than 400 foreign football stars with EU passports would lose their automatic right to play here.

Instead they would face tough Home Office rules to get a work permit – and most would fail.

Top players like Leicester City’s N’Golo Kante and West Ham ace Dimitri Payet could be among those kicked out.

LEAVING? Martial has an EU passport too

Other at-risk footballers could include Liverpool’s Emre Can, Newcastle keeper Tim Krul and new Manchester United whizzkid Anthony Martial.

One West Ham fan moaned: “I’d be devastated if we lost Payet. It’s as good a reason as any to vote to stay in Europe.”

More than 100 Premier League players with EU passports would be affected if Brits vote for Brexit on June 23.

A total of 332 foreign stars in the first two tiers of English football and the Scottish Premiership would fail to qualify for a work permit.

The same applies to 109 EU players in England’s League One and Two.

PITY: Kante may also have to leave if a Brexit happens

Foreign stars from outside the EU have to play a certain percentage of their national team games in the last two years to get a work permit here.

Leicester’s Kante only made his debut for France last weekend.

Legal expert Dr Gregory Ioannidis, from Sheffi eld Hallam University, said: “Footballers are considered workers in law.”