England's debt-ridden clubs will be vulnerable, warns Gordon Taylor

PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor has issued a dire warning for the English game.

The PFA have unveiled their shortlist for their prestigious annual player and young player of the year awards, with Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Cesc Fabregas and Carlos Tevez worthy challengers for the main crown.

But if it paints a picture of a game in rude health, Taylor believes it would be a false image.

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With Portsmouth in administration and both Hull City and West Ham also warning of major cutbacks if they ended up accompanying the south coast club into the Championship, the alarm bells are ringing.

At the top level, the huge debts incurred by Manchester United, Liverpool and, albeit for the constructive of an impressive new stadium, Arsenal, make them vulnerable to being cherry-picked, especially now the new 50 per cent tax rate for higher earners is not making the Premier League quite so attractive as it was before.

"To assume everything in the garden is rosy would be wrong," said Taylor.

"Football is a mirror to what is happening in this country and the rest of the world.

"With the credit crunch it is a fact that we have serious financial problems. This country is in the red. That has to impact on football.

"Nobody would have ever thought a Premier League club would go into administration. But that has happened and when you see the debt levels of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal, you feel if they do need to balance the books they are going to be open to a bid they may not be able to refuse."

Fabregas and Rooney would undoubtedly be on the wish-list of every major club in the world should they signal a desire to leave Arsenal and Manchester United respectively.

The Gunners have already responded to renewed speculation linking their captain with Barcelona by claiming the Catalan giants have assured them there will be no bid this summer.

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Cristiano Ronaldo has been trying to entice Rooney to Real Madrid, although admittedly without much chance of success.

Clearly though, there are problems to be addressed.

"I felt it was very dangerous to assume we had the best league in the world, even when we had three teams in the Champions League semi-finals," said Taylor.

"It is offensive to La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga to name just three. It is not just about club success. It is about international success as well."