Let's see 1 "home-grown" player at 2o some million pounds divided by a squad of 25...we were never that good at math - we'll have to wait and see if the City accounts prove any more adept.So earlier this week Richard Scudamore announced that at the end of each transfer window each Prem clubs will be restricted to naming a squad of 25...and...wait for it...8 of those players must be "home-grown." Now, that doesn't mean that Rafa or Arsene will be denied their Continental contingents, because, importantly, a "home-grown" player is one that has been trained for a period of 3 years in the English or Welsh professional system(s), when he was between the ages of 16 - 21, not one who is an English or Welshman by birth.
Pretty smart, no? The FA can get around the EU ruling that make illegal FIFA's preferred quotas on foreign players, while still achieving a similar result (in theory, at least). We just wonder whether the FA is giving the clubs enough time to reorganize (the rules go into effect at the start of next season), while also requiring them to show that they are financially solvent (no debts to other clubs + no outstanding taxes + ability to make all payments through the season). A collective groan has just been heard around Eastlands - but, to be fair, some 27.5 mil of that was spent on Lescott, and at least he can help with the whole "home-grown" thing.
However admirable the FA's goal is, the urgency with which the new rules will be enacted is a little suspect. Could the FA's eagerness be attributable to its desire to please FIFA in advance of the latter's decision on the England's 2018 World Cup bid? I mean since the EU slapped down Blatter's "6+5" rule with the same kind of authority that President's Obama recently employed in his verbal takedown of Kanye West, maybe this is the FA's way of showing their allegiance to Blatter's principle, if not his preferred practice.
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