According to several media outlets, Monday’s announcement from the Premier League regarding squad sizes means Liverpool will have to “overhaul” their squad next summer.
The new requirements from the League mean each club must register a squad of 25 players, 8 of which must be “homegrown” – much like the Champions League requirements.
Liverpool recently submitted their squad for the Champions League group stages, with only Philipp Degen and Nabil El Zhar (currently injured) omitted from the squad in order to achieve the required quota.
Next season when the ruling comes into play in the Premier League both Emiliano Insua and Daniel Pacheco will qualify as homegrown players as they have been at the the club for 3 years or more under the age of 21, as have a host of other players listed as in the Reds’ current squad.
Furthmore, of the “56 registered professionals” the Guardian cites as being problematic for Liverpool, almost half of the 56 players listed are actually 21 or under – who do not affect the 25 man squad size. So when you read articles declaring “Liverpool and several other Premier League clubs will have to dramatically overhaul their playing staffs for next season” don’t believe the rubbish, the truth is we are more than comfortable and these new rulings will hardly affect us.
In fact, while the official website lists 56 players in our first team squad, the more appropriate number is indeed 28 players (current LFC squad) – discounting players out on loan and unlikely to appear this season.