Sir Alex Ferguson has called for the introduction of quotas to stave off the demise of English players from the Premier League.

A leaked PFA report into the dwindling numbers of English-born stars appearing for top flight clubs, poignantly titled 'Meltdown', backed Manchester United's 'balanced' policy of mixing home-produced players with those from overseas.

Ferguson has always attempted to follow the path laid down by Sir Matt Busby in ensuring United nurture their own stars, even though he is unhappy at the current FA academy rules which he believes forces United and other leading clubs to fill their ranks with overseas youngsters.

However, while he accepts European employment law makes the prospect fraught with difficulty, the United boss has come out in favour of a scheme backed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his UEFA counterpart Michel Platini which would commit clubs to having a set number of domestic players within their matchday squads.

"It is a concern," he said.

"Platini and Blatter have been talking about having a quota of home-grown players and I totally agree with that.

"They say it can't be done because of employment law, but if you have a certain number of English players in your squad, you could still have foreign players.

"Whether it could be applied, or agreed to by all the clubs, I am not so sure. But there would be nothing wrong with it."