27 Jul 2026 14:25:26
Having read up on things, we currently have 25 senior players in the squad, 16 Overseas: Ali, Marma, Ramsey, VVD, Kerkez, Tsimikas, Endo, Macca, Grav, Szob, Wirtz, Munoz, Gakpo, Chiesa, Isak, Ekitike and 9 HG: Woodman, Jaros, Frimpong, Bradley, Gomez, Bajectic, McConnell, Jones, Elliott (not to mention Beck and Chambers).
If we're making any more senior signings, then players will have to make way, which is likely why we've primarily targeted under 21 players such as Diomande, Rayan as they can still be brought in and not be considered a problem registration wise for a season or two, also likely why we went heavy on U21 CBs, as they essentially are freebie players when it comes to registration.
So if we're signing senior players, who are we selling/de-registering to take their places. It feels to me like we'll see 1 in, 1 out. If Barcola and Wharton/Scott/Camara, Kounde/hybrid defender are targets. It's likely to be Gakpo, Macca and Ramsey to go just to make space.
Just food for though, what does everyone else think?
27 Jul 2026 15:30:24
It's more complicated than that. Different rules in the CL mean that even U21s will still need to be registered as overseas players. Despite being U21 and homegrown, even Rio had to be registered as an overseas player last season, as he had not been at the club for 2 years.
We need to move some players on. Based on last season, the obvious would have been Endo and Chiesa, but who knows.
Other names often being mentioned are Gakpo and Macca. It will be a balancing act, trying to make sure you have strength in depth whilst freeing up space in the squad. The big hope for Iraola is that he is more likely to use U21 players in place of the squad players who don't play much but require registering as non-hg.
27 Jul 2026 15:39:25
It's not this simple for us because we're in the Champions League where the squad rules are different. CL rules are as follows:
1) The A List must not have any more than 25 players.
2) Up to 17 non-Home Grown players are allowed in the A List.
3) Up to 21 Home Grown players are allowed in the A List (played for another English club for 3 years between 15-21). However, every non-Home Grown player replaces one of these slots.
4) Up to 25 club trained players are allowed in the A List (Players aged over 21 who have spent 3 years at the club between 15-21 years old).
5) The B List can have unlimited u21 players as long as they've been at the club for 2 consecutive years. u21s that have not done 2 consecutive years must be registered in the A-List.
Summary: Most clubs tend to max out the non-Home Grown allocation with 17, have 4 Home Grown Players, and 4 Club Trained players. Effectively, you can have 21 non-Club Trained players and a maximum of 17 of those can be non-Homegrown. If you want a bigger squad than 21 players, you need to utilise your academy for the final 4 slots by filling them with Club Trained players.
Effectively though, players like Ndiaye, Jacquet, Leoni and Rayan would all have to be in the A List in order to play in the Champions League for us, so they would all take up a non-Home Grown slot. In the Premier League though, the Squad rules are much more relaxed. There is no Club Trained requirement in the Premier League, and also everyone u21 does not need to be registered, regardless of how long they've been at the club or playing in England. Other than that the rules are the same. Maximum of 25 players can be registered and a maximum of 17 of those can be non-Homegrown. If you want to fill your full 25 man allocation, then 8 of them must be Homegrown.
To really blow your mind, Last season Rio Ngumoha counted as an A List non-Homegrown player in the Champions League, this season he will be eligible for the B List in the Champions League, and in 4 years time he'll be eligible as an A List Club Trained player.
It's so over complicated. You can even have some players listed in the Champions League but not in the Premier League, and vice versa. I need a lie down after explaining that, so good luck trying to understand it.
27 Jul 2026 16:20:51
Should have clarified, I was just referring to the Premier League squad registration.
27 Jul 2026 16:29:30
Wait, have we signed Rayan yet?
27 Jul 2026 17:00:00
OliRed, nope, I didn't say we had.
27 Jul 2026 18:03:39
I don't see an issue; Elliot, Chiesa, Endo and Ramsey could fall off the earth tomorrow and nobody would bat an eyelid. If we need to make way for incoming signings, we will.