Sunderland-born Robson played for both Sunderland and Newcastle, before performing a host of backroom duties for the Black Cats – most reently as chief scout until being removed at the end of last season.
He says the English national team will suffer if the Premier League is swamped by foreigners.
Pop Robson: “I fear it might happen that Sunderland will concentrate solely on the overseas market.
“They might go for cheaper options, younger players, European players, Croatians, Italians – but they still have to be good enough to play in the Premier League, which is pretty demanding.
“But you read where probably Norwich is the only team in the Premier League that is fielding enough of a percentage of English players, and I feel that’s a sad situation
“It’s a worry to me in the English game. I don’t know where the development is going to come from.
“The Premier League has spent a lot of money on academies but we need to keep working on it.”