I hope so too Ivor, but I suppose the point is that if Man U or Chelsea come courting our young talent then at least it's home-grown, rather than imported talent. Boro get a handsome pay-off, the young lad gets to play at the highest level and the English game, at grass-roots level, gets an encouraging boost!
Everyone's a winner!!
In fairness I don't have too much of a problem with foreign players earning their living here, it's been common in the rest of Europe for long enough, and I've had the pleasure of seeing the likes of Zola, Bergkamp and Juninho up close. The truth is that many clubs just follow the pack and either don't bother looking at what's on their doorstep or won't make the investment in establishing an academy to bring them on to the next level.

C-flat