As has been subject to high focus in the past few days, the Premier League's new squad of 25 rule has brought extra transfer stories out of the woodwork.
The rules state that each club has to register 25 players by the end of the August transfer window, eight of whom qualify as 'home-grown' - that is, trained for three seasons prior to their twenty-first birthday at any club registered by the Football Association or the Welsh Football Association.
On top of this a club can supplement their squad with any number of players under the age of twenty one. At City, this category includes Weiss, Boyata, Cunningham, Nimely and Ibrahim of players who have made first-team debuts. So they do not have to be registered for the new campaign.
25 players allows for three goalkeepers, two players in each position and two 'spares'. Using the 4-2-3-1 formation, this could be the squad we go forward with, stars will be placed next to those who qualify as home grown:
GK: Hart*, Given*, Taylor*
RB: Richards*, Boateng
CB: Kolo Toure, Kompany
CB: Lescott*, Onuoha*
LB: Kolarov, Bridge*
CDM: Yaya Toure, De Jong
CDM: Barry*, Vieira
RAM: A. Johnson*, SWP*
CAM: Tevez, Ireland*
LAM: Silva, Bellamy*
CF: Adebayor, Santa Cruz
Plus: Zabaleta, M. Johnson*
This would give us thirteen players in the home-grown category and some scope for extra additions. So some newspapers' assertions that we will have to sell something near fourteen players to comply with this rule are some way off the mark.
The only possible transfers may arise from the extra competition they may bring, which was always going to be the case.
With our reserves of young players, the Premier League's ruling should not have that great an affect on the team. With possibly two more arrivals to come - a regularly absent Michael Johnson could be sent on loan to regain fitness and then there is only one position that will have to be succeeded - RSC perhaps? If one of the two arrivals is Mario Balotelli, then he will not impact the 25 as he is under 21 and therefore free to play.
Stories of a neccessary mass exodus are someway off the mark.
