Some thoughts on our 25-man squad

When planning our squad and identifying targets in preparation for the forthcoming season, our management team must pay close consideration to the the 25-man squad rule. We are able to name a 25-man squad if eight of the players are “home grown”. We could name fewer than eight home grown players, but would need to also name fewer than 25 players in our squad – e.g. if we only have seven home grown players, we can name a 24-man squad, 6/23, 5/22, etc. A home grown player is defined as follows:

… one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Welsh Football Association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).

We do not need to name players who are under 21 on the squad list; for the 2013/14 campaign under 21 players will have been born on or after 1st January 1992.

As it stands, our 25-man squad would probably consist of (* = home grown player):

Hugo Lloris
Brad Friedel
Heurelho Gomes

Kyle Walker*
Benoît Assou-Ekotto
Danny Rose*
Kyle Naughton* / Adam Smith*

Younes Kaboul
Jan Vertonghen
Michael Dawson*
Steven Caulker*

Sandro
Paulinho
Mousa Dembélé
Scott Parker*
Lewis Holtby
Tom Huddlestone*
Jake Livermore*

Gareth Bale*
Aaron Lennon*
Gylfi Sigurðsson*
Clint Dempsey
Andros Townsend*

Emmanuel Adebayor
Jermain Defoe*

That would mean that the following miss out:

Kyle Naughton* / Adam Smith*
Yago Falque
Ryan Mason*
Bongani Khumalo
Simon Dawkins*
Jonathan Obika*
Grant Hall* (on loan at Swindon)

We are then able to select any players who were born after January 1992 without needing to register them. This means that any of the following (plus the 1st and 2nd year Academy scholars) would be available for selection:

Tom Carroll
Zeki Fryers
Massimo Luongo (on loan at Swindon)
Ryan Fredericks
Cameron Lancaster
Cristian Ceballos
Jonathan Miles
Jordan Archer
Alex Pritchard (on loan at Swindon)
Harry Kane
Kevin Stewart
Lawrence Vigouroux
Giancarlo Gallifuoco
Kenneth McEvoy
Shaquille Coulthirst
Nabil Bentaleb
Grant Ward
Rueben Lameiras
Soulemayne Coulibaly
Tomislav Gomelt
Roman Michael-Percil
Alex McQueen
Darren McQueen
Laste Dombaxe
Dominic Ball
Milos Veljkovic

We have some flexibility with the goalkeeping situation; it is likely that Gomes will move on, and Archer (a “freebie”, so to speak) will be third choice. This frees up a further squad place, which does help somewhat.

Realistically we need to find buyers or loan clubs for those who will not make the cut, so as not to waste their time or wages. In addition, for any further over-21 signings we make, we will need to find a squad space for them. The likes of Huddlestone and Livermore could be moved on to accommodate new signings, but it does illustrate how little room for manoeuvre we have.

On the plus side, we have plenty of homegrown players (as it stands), and we also have the bonus of the likes of Carroll and Archer, who do not need to be named in the squad in order to be used.

Having just spent a club record fee on Paulinho, there is clearly an argument that we ought to sell before we buy – that spending money without recouping it makes poor financial sense. The 25-man squad limit also, I think, points to this being a prudent approach. Being stuck with high-profile players on big wages that do not make the squad (and therefore lose significant value over a 6 month period) would be far from ideal, and should be avoided if possible.