Ange Postecoglou will want further additions for his Tottenham side in the January transfer window but it’s worth looking at what must happen to his squad to fit them in.
Spurs have long had issues with keeping within their homegrown and foreign player requirements when it comes to their Premier League and European squads, with the latter often causing the most problems. This season, Postecoglou has had to leave Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon out of his Europa League squad for that exact reason.
Here’s what Tottenham’s Premier League and Europa League squads look like right now in terms of keeping within the guidelines and what it means for the January window. For the purposes of this exercise we’re not using players who are out on loan elsewhere as they are a problem to be dealt with next summer in these lists.
Premier League
Spurs haven’t got any problems with their Premier League squad, because the rules in this competition are pretty straight forward.
You cannot register more than 17 non-homegrown (foreign) players and the remainder of the squad, up to that total of 25, must be homegrown. However, there is also the bonus in the Premier League that clubs can name any players aged 21 and under within a separate Under-21 list, which frees up space in the main 25-man squad.
For the 2024/25 campaign, Under-21 players have to be born on or after January 1, 2003 to make the list so that means Archie Gray, Wilson Odobert and Lucas Bergvall did not need to be registered on the main list and the same will go for Yang Min-hyeok in January and all will remain on there
When it comes to homegrown players, the Premier League describes one as “a player who, irrespective of nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons, or 36 months, before his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21)”.
Spurs only have 14 non-homegrown players and the required eight homegrown ones, so can add three more players in the January window with Sergio Reguilon also likely to leave if he can find an exit route this time, which would make it four open spots for players aged over 21.
Premier League non-homegrown players (14 currently, 17 maximum allowed): Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Radu Dragusin, Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Sergio Reguilon, Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, Son Heung-min, Timo Werner, Pape Matar Sarr.
Premier League homegrown players (8 currently and eight minimum required): Dominic Solanke, Fraser Forster, Brandon Austin, Alfie Whiteman, Ben Davies, James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, Djed Spence.
Notable Under-21s players: Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Wilson Odobert, Will Lankshear, Mikey Moore, Alfie Dorrington.
