Our 19 man Premier League squad?

Given Purslow’s comments on Radio 5Live this morning that the LFC squad is too big so some players will be leaving, and with the likelihood of imminent finances negligible given the tortuous Hicks and Gillett fumigation process we’re engaged in, thought I’d check to see how the squad was shaping up.

These are the relevant rules the Premier League has introduced:

i) Every club will have to name a first-team squad of no more than 25, of which a maximum of 17 may not be homegrown players.

ii) The Premier League defines a homegrown player as a player 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).

iii) In addition to this squad of 25 players, each club may use as many under-21 players as they wish. The player must have been born on or after January 1, 1989 to be classed as ‘Under-21’ for this season.

Our squad options:

Homegrown players (6):
Carragher
Cole
Darby
Gerrard
Johnson
Spearing

Non-homegrown players (18):
Agger
Aquilani
Aurelio
Babel
Cavalieri
El Zhar
Itandje
Jovanovic
Kyrgiakos
Kuyt
Lucas
Mascherano
Maxi
Plessis
Poulsen
Reina
Skrtel
Torres

Youngsters born after 1/1/89 (unlimited):
Amoo
Ayala
Bouzanis
Bruna
Dalla Valle
Ecclestone
Gulacsi
Hansen
Ince
Insua* ——> matchday squad regular last season
Irwin
Kelly
Mavinga
Nemeth
Ngog* ——> matchday squad regular last season
Pacheco
Palsson
Robinson
Shelvey
Wilson

plus loads of other youngsters without squad numbers.

So currently we could only name a 23 man squad consisting of 6 homegrown players plus 17 of the 18 non-homegrown players.

Of that 18 Itandje won’t play for us again. Mascherano is trying to leave and the club is waiting on a bid. Plessis has no squad number + all the talk is of his moving. El Zhar is being shipped around clubs. Kyrgiakos has been told he can seek a transfer. That leaves us with 13 non-homegrown players.

So without further additions we could be sending the Premier League a 19 man squad on the 1st September:

Homegrown players (6):
Carragher
Cole
Darby
Gerrard
Johnson
Spearing

Non-homegrown players (13):
Agger
Aquilani
Aurelio
Babel
Cavalieri
Jovanovic
Kuyt
Lucas
Maxi
Poulsen
Reina
Skrtel
Torres

A few thoughts:

The first thing that springs to mind is that a full 25 man squad plus any U21 players is a massive choice for a manager so I’m not sure why there’s so much whinging from the likes of Wenger.

As a club it’s clear we’re going to have to rely on the quality youngsters this year to provide depth. The likes of Pacheco, Wilson, Kelly, Spearing, Ngog, Insua (?) will have a big part to play.

I’m not sure why we’re looking to buy Brad Jones as we’re not struggling on the squad size front if we decide not to name Itandje, Plessis, El Zhar + Soto and Mascherano leave. Surely Cavalieri plus the young keepers are more than adequate back-ups to Reina?

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quick update: been suggested that Cavalieri is looking to leave to play first team football. An experienced back-up is then a necessity. However given the potential squad shape we’d be well short of a full non-homegrown quota so buying a homegrown qualified player is not a necessity.