Platini: I'll stop Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and United poaching the kids

Platini, president of European football's governing body, UEFA, has expressed fierce criticism of the Big Four's policy on recruiting young footballers from overseas, which has been led by Arsenal.

And he has pledged to work with politicians to ban clubs from signing any more 16-year-old boys from abroad.

The move by Platini, a former European Footballer of the Year and French international star, would have a huge impact on England's top four clubs, who have increasingly relied on foreign talent not just in their Premier League line-ups but also in their reserve and youth teams.

Platini is scathing in his criticism of English clubs that encourage boys to join them from abroad at the age of 16 or 17 — a practice that was pioneered by Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, most famously in the recruitment of Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona. The policy is now also widely used by Liverpool and Chelsea.

UEFA's president says he is working with the European Commission to introduce an exemption to labour laws specifically for football, which would prevent England's top clubs from encouraging boys from abroad to join them.

Platini said: 'I have told the European Commission that we should ban the transfer of minors.

'The first football contract that a player signs should be for club that trains them. You don't train someone to be sold, you train a player to play. It is important to protect our young people. Minors shouldn't be seen as a machine that can be transferred for the benefit of agents or clubs. They have time enough for that.

'I left for another country at 25. You don't need to leave at 15. It's to do with protecting social values, family values. There is no justification for buying them at 15, getting them over with parents, that is just not on.

'I really don't like it when a club like Lugano, Geneve, Brescia or Nancy train a player and then when they are 16 they are bought by much richer clubs. We're going to fight it.'

Platini will use French President Nicolas Sarkozy to help introduce the new legislation.

Platini will work with Sarkozy and his sports minister, Roselyne Bachelot, to persuade the European Commission to allow football to introduce special rules. Platini said: "I am speaking to the European Commission regarding the specific nature of sport in European Law."

While United were criticised by Platini and have signed 16-year-olds such as Gerard Pique from Barcelona, only four of their 24-strong academy are from abroad and just 18 per cent of their playing squad under the age of 21 are from overseas.