As all avid EPL fans are probably aware, new rules stipulating a minimum number of homegrown players in the squad of each English premier league club come into full force this season.
Given the woeful performance of England at the recent world cup, many would argue that these rules could not come a day sooner. Critics of the influx of foreign players in the EPL will argue that as the number of foreign players has steadily risen, the quality of home grown talent has also declined steadily.
This is not to say that the premier league clubs have now seen the error of their ways are. If you were hoping to see clubs focus on developing a new stream of academy stars such as those that came through the ranks at Old Trafford in the 1990s or those that have come through the academies of Everton (including the likes of Wayne Rooney and more recently, Jack Rodwell) and West Ham (including household names like Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard to name a few); you may be disappointed.
Why? Because the new rules state that each of the 20 premier league clubs have to submit a squad of up to 25 players. Each squad must include no more than 17 players who do not qualify as homegrown. So the issue is the requirement for qualifying as home grown.
To qualify as homegrown according to these less-than-onerous Football Association rules, all that is necessary is that a player, "irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday".
OK, sorry, I'm sure like most fans, you simply thought homegrown meant British - or at least, someone who could one day be in a position to play for the Three Lions of England! Well, sorry! The new rules apparently makes Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas a home grown player. Great!
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