24 Aug 2016 13:23:16
As it stands - and discounting McAleny, McGeady, Niasse and Rodriguez who weren't given squad numbers and therefore appear likely to be moved on (permanently or on loan) - we still have 23 aged-over--21 players:
Baines, Barkley, Barry, Besic, Bolasie, Browning, Cleverley, Coleman, Deulofeu, Funes Mori, Gibson, Gueye, Jagielka, Koné, Lennon, Lukaku, McCarthy, Mirallas, Oviedo, Pennington, Robles, Stekelenburg and Williams. (Other players like Holgate, Davies, Dowell, Tarashaj, etc., are still all under 21.)
At the end of this transfer window, we have to register our aged-over-21 squad for the Premier League and that squad is allowed a maximum of 25 players. (By the way, as I understand it, the fact that our U21 side is now playing in a revamped U23 competition doesn't affect the aged-over-21 squad rule for the Premier League. )
So, at present we have just 2 places for incoming aged-over-21 players.
Of course, some current players could be moved out to create room for more new players.
Also, if some players have long-term injuries and can't play for several months (e. g. Besic) , they could be omitted from the squad and named in it at the end of the next transfer window (January) if they've recovered.
It'll be interesting to see how many players we'll actually bring in and which (if necessary) of the current players will have to leave in order to keep us within the 25-player maximum.
24 Aug 2016 14:05:45
Fantastic post mate and so informative. It seems we are still after a few.
24 Aug 2016 14:13:23
If Koeman is after the Southampton right-back I'd assume that one or both of Pennington and Browning will leave on loan - Galloway is more first team ready than either of those, I'd say, and they let him go on loan. The only other possibility would be Gibson, surely McCarthy will stay, unless used as a makeweight for Kone (Sunderland) .
24 Aug 2016 14:37:41
rich150: Browning and Pennington are both out injured and it seems doubtful that they'll be fit by the end of the transfer window. My understanding is that there are new rules about loan transfers (perhaps one of the Eds can clarify) and loan deals for those players would have to be agreed before the transfer window closes and would have to be at least until the January transfer window. As I said, I'd welcome clarification fron the Eds.
If I'm right, that leaves us aIn a bit of a quandary regarding those players and our registered squad.
{Ed002's Note - (a) There is nothing new about the rules. (b) The rules are different if they are to be loaned to lower league clubs.}
24 Aug 2016 15:30:22
Sid, Am I correct in believing that the under 21 rule is that a player should be under 21 on January 1st of a season. That means for example that Tarashaj who was 21 in February is not required to be included in the 25 man squad.
{Ed002's Note - 21 or under.}
24 Aug 2016 16:05:58
Ed002: are shorter-term loans (other than emergency goalkeeper loans) still allowed for periods in between transfer windows OR do loans now have to be from one transfer window to another (be it a full season or a half-season) ?
For example, Everton have this month loaned out a few players - some for the whole season and some just until January - whereas in the past the past Everton youngsters were often sent out on loan for the odd month now and again throughout the season.
Also, with a season-long loan, can the recall only be invoked when the January transfer window opens?
Finally, can loanees appear for their patent club in non-first-team fixtures even while officially on loan elsewhere?
{Ed002's Note - It depends where the loan is to - a lower-tier club and the FA will allow players to play for lower-tier clubs on a short-term (e.g. month-by-month) but they would be excluded from returning to play for the first team of the loaning club during the window ((Sept-Jan) and Feb-May)) and could potentiall (the FA haven't tested this) kill any opportunity for the player to ever be loaned abroad).}
24 Aug 2016 16:19:42
Ed002: thanks - it's a minefield and no-one is sure where to step!