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Anticipate lots of spending from English clubs in the next 2 months. Not just because many of them are in a rebuilding phase but also in anticipation of the financial fair play rules being put in place next season. However before we start speculating on player transfers let us bear in mind the existing Premier League squad rules.

Teams are allowed to have only 25 players over the age of 21. To complicate matters further at least 8 of these 25 must be "homegrown" players (defined as players who have played football in the UK for 36 months prior to turning 21). Taking all these factors into consideration here is a table & analysis of the top team's existing squads as of June 21, 2011.

Arsenal FC

The situation in Arsenal is interesting. They have 11 players who are under 21 but have represented the first team last season. 6 of those players (Szczesny, Ramsey, Gibbs, Jay Thomas, Lansbury & Traore) cross the 21 age limit at the start of the 2012-13 season. The current squad has 2 players (Almunia & Rosicky) whose contracts expire by June 2012. This means Arsene Wenger either has to stick to 21 squad members for the coming season or prepare to sell or loan out some first team players in June 2012.

The other issue for Wenger is that the players rumored on their way out (Denilson, Fabregas, Bendtner & Clichy) are all listed under 'homegrown players'. This means their replacements need to be English to allow Wenger to operate with a full squad this season.

Chelsea FC

Chelsea find themselves in a bit of a tight spot. Daniel Sturridge is the only under 21 player ready for regular first team action. Others (McEachran, Kakuta, Bruma & Van Aanholt) will at best be used sparingly. As Slobodan Rajković seems the only player over 21 who will be loaned out, Roman Abramovich cannot make wholesale changes to his team. His squad has reached the limit of foreign players. The likely options are to buy English players (as Chelsea is well short in that department) or to buy players under 21 years who are good enough to play in the first team. The latter explains why Chelsea are so heavily linked to Neymar & Lukaku.

Liverpool FC

Amongst the youngsters in Anfield, only 3 players (Ayala, Henderson & Kelly) cross the 21 age limit at the start of the 2012-13 season. The issue for King Kenny's side is they have reached their squad limit. The gaffer needs to get rid of a lot of his predecessor's signings so as to allow him to make new ones. Konchesky, Degen, Aquilani, El Zhar, Jovanović, Insúa & Aurélio are all in the firing line. The tough part is to find clubs that want these players as Liverpool cannot afford to wait for their contracts to expire.

Manchester United

Sir Alex seems of top of things as usual. He has plenty of homegrown players so he doesn't have to worry about balancing that part when it comes to player transfers. Obertan & Cleverly are over 21 for the upcoming season but that has coincided with the retirement of Scholes, Van De Sar & Neville. Players being linked to the club (Varane, De Gea) are under 21 so will not add to the squad. Expected arrivals like Ashley Young will replace Gibson & Wes Brown. For the 2012-13 season, 4 players (Amos, Rafael, Fabio & Welbeck) will be counted in the squad. They will replace Berbatov, Owen & Giggs whose contracts will not be renewed. All's well at Old Trafford.

Manchester City

Expect more out's than in's at the Eastlands this summer. Bellamy, Bridge, Santa Cruz & Adebayor head the list of departures whereas González, Jô, Nielsen, Wright Phillips, Given, Boateng & Michael Johnson could either be sold or loaned out. Some extra pounds in the pocket should be enough to convince Tevez to stay on. That leaves enough space for the arrivals of Eto, Ibrahimovic, Hazard & any player who could be a threat if he joined a rival club. For the 2012-13 season, 3 youngsters (Balotelli, Weiss & Boyata) will add to the squad. However I doubt Mancini is permitted to think that far ahead!!!

Tottenham Hotspurs

White Hart Lane won't see any Champions League action this year. Neither will Anfield but they are riding high on 'the Kings' fever at the moment. Harry Rednapp has 3 things to do this summer. Firstly hang on to Modric & Bale. Secondly find takers for Keane, Bentley, Jenas, Hutton, Kranjčar, Bassong & Dos Santos. With the money on hand he then must find a couple of quality players who can help Tottenham qualify for a top 4 place next season. Only saving grace is that he doesn't have to worry about the future, as barring Danny Rose & Kyle Walker, Tottenham have no upcoming youngsters!!!

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Suvra P. Sinha said:

... nice read..... it is hopeful that before the start of 2012-2013 season arsene wenger would unload the pack of unused traore,E. Jay Thomas, Lansbury & Traore....even much before that arsenal would be needing restructuring of the squad.The present squad of players are technically gifted but you need more more steel than skill to survive in premiership......so a must add would be some bulky layers to add some genuine 'weight' to the team.

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June 27, 2011
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