The English Premier League (EPL) may have gained worldwide popularity, but Germany coach Joachim Loew insists that it has contributed to England's lack of success on the football field.
Loew, who was speaking ahead of Germany's Euro 2016 qualifier here against Poland, said EPL clubs focus too much on signing foreign players for exorbitant amounts and allocate too little funds for youth development.
"The English will have to face up to the fact their young players don't get the minutes for their clubs," Loew was quoted as saying by the Mirror on Friday.
"That is why the English national team hasn't set the world alight, have they?"
Top flight English clubs have spent 860 million pounds ($1,309 million) on transfer fees this season, of which around two-thirds, or 500 million pounds ($761 million), went abroad.
Loew, who guided Germany to World Cup victory in Brazil last year, asserted that the EPL clubs' tendency to prioritise foreign stars over home grown talent is partially responsible for transforming the German team into world beaters.
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"Premier League clubs are now paying three times what they used to. But the good thing is that money is being ploughed back into the Bundesliga," he said.
"That helps make the German national team stronger because in the last few years 100 million pounds has been put back into youth development.
"That money has been used to make the standard of young players better."