The Football Association has unveiled detailed proposals to reduce the number of imported players coming into the English game from outside the European Union by up to 50%.

Under the plans, Football League clubs would be banned from signing non-EU players altogether and Premier League clubs would be prevented from sending them on loan. The FA chairman Greg Dyke hopes the changes will help prevent “mediocre” overseas players from blocking the progress of homegrown talent.

Under the proposals, only players from the top 50 Fifa-ranked countries in the world could be signed unless the transfer fee is more than a pre-defined figure, which could be set at £10 million or £15 million.

At present, the rules technically require non-EU players from the top 30 ranked countries to have played in 75% of their country’s competitive internationals in the previous two years. However, the rule is often overlooked and under the proposed new rules that figure would be reduced to a more realistic 30%.