25-man squad latest

Our squad clear-out continues, leaving our 25-man squad as follows (* = home grown player):

Hugo Lloris
Brad Friedel
Heurelho Gomes

Kyle Walker*
Benoît Assou-Ekotto
Kyle Naughton*
Danny Rose*

Younes Kaboul
Jan Vertonghen
Michael Dawson*

Sandro
Paulinho
Mousa Dembélé
Étienne Capoue
Scott Parker*
Lewis Holtby

Gareth Bale*
Aaron Lennon*
Nacer Chadli
Gylfi Sigurðsson*
Andros Townsend*
Yago Falque

Roberto Soldado
Emmanuel Adebayor
Jermain Defoe*

As it stands, the following professional players (who are over the age cut-off and not on loan) will miss out:

Simon Dawkins*
Jonathan Obika*

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. Carroll, Fryers, Kane and Stewart, for example, do not need to be included on the list.

Should we sign more players (and it’s very clear that we need to sign a centre-back), others will have to drop out of the squad. With Parker expected to leave, and a question mark over Adebayor and Gomes’ futures too, we should be able to create enough room for further signings.