And the Bosman ruling has meant that any player can move on for free at the end of a contract.

BBC: More

Meanwhile, smaller clubs will be compensated to some extent if young players that they have invested in developing move elsewhere under the Bosman ruling.

BBC: EU: No limits on foreign players

Scarborough are entitled to compensation for former Scunthorpe striker Stamp, if he elects to move on, as he is under 24 and so is not covered by the Bosman Ruling.

BBC: Northampton reported to FA

That decline is partly explained by the glut of foreign players that have joined the Premier League in the years since the European Court of Justice passed the so-called Bosman ruling in 1996, which established the right of players to free agency at the end of their contracts and abolished quotas on the number of non-nationals each club could sign or field.

WSJ: Scoring Skills are Heading South

The former Blackpool defender has joined Shrewsbury on a free under the 'Bosman' ruling.

BBC: Shrews break club record for Holt

In a test-case ruling involving a Belgian soccer player, Jean-Marc Bosman, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg decided in December 1995 that the European Union's rules on the free movement of labour applied to sportsmen.

ECONOMIST: The pros and cons of free trade in rugby players: An English case study | The