Almost a year after its inception, the effects of the rule limiting Barclays Premier League sides to naming just 25 players over the age of 21 in their squads are beginning to become clear.
The rule had little initial impact on Arsenal, who were able to ensure that all of their young professionals were eligible to play in the Premier League last season by splitting them between their ‘senior squad’ and their under-21 squad, with the latter allowing an unlimited number of players.
This year, however, things are a little different, as several of the players who came into the younger category last season must now either be included in the ‘senior squad’ if they are to be eligible for any top-flight action. This has already had something of an impact on the club, as evidenced by the decision to release Mark Randall, who, under the criteria, would be classed as a senior player for the 2011/12 campaign, whilst the decision to allow Thomas Cruise to leave is likely to have been made as part of the process of culling the vast number of young professionals at the club.
A decision does not need to be made on Hoyte's future until next Summer
Pedro Botelho is also considered a senior player for the new campaign and, if the indications suggested by the player himself are to be believed, is likely to be part of the first-team squad, especially given that Gael Clichy is yet to commit to a new deal. Gavin Hoyte, meanwhile, is a somewhat different case as, despite being part of the same scholarship intake as Randall (2006), his birthday falls in June, meaning that he is not considered a senior player until the following campaign.
In effect, then, the impact of the 25-man squad rule is that it has forced the club to adopt a more ruthless approach with regards to its young professionals. Jay Simpson, Havard Nordtveit, Nacer Barazite, Roarie Deacon and Cedric Evina have all been allowed to leave in the past 12 months, whilst the rule has also ensured that a situation such as the one that saw Kerrea Gilbert remain at the club beyond his 23rd birthday despite being nothing more than a fringe player will not be allowed to materialise again.
Instead, the club must make their decisions regarding the fate of their young professionals much earlier than before. This has been reflected in the policy to only award one-year pro deals to those scholars who have impressed in patches but are yet to fully convince. That policy saw Deacon leave the club earlier than many had anticipated, whilst Jernade Meade and George Brislen-Hall, the latest scholars to graduate to professional terms, have only been offered 12-month contracts.
The rule also means that the forthcoming season will be a pivotal one as far as some of the club’s 2007 intake of scholars is concerned. This group, considered to be one of the most illustrious to be incorporated into the club since the switch to the Academy format, has already lost two key members in Cruise and Luke Ayling. Decisions, however difficult, must be made over the futures of the likes of Henri Lansbury, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Craig Eastmond and Rhys Murphy over the next 12 months.
For the 2011/12 campaign, under 21 players are those born on or after January 1st, 1990, meaning that Theo Walcott, Kieran Gibbs and Armand Traore will have to be included in the ‘senior’ squad if they remain at the club. Clubs cannot include more than 17 ‘non-homegrown’ players in their squads.
