As we draw nearer to the start of the Premier League season, the make up of the squad has taken centre stage —Unless Cesc to Barca is of any interest to you— and with the Premier league introduction of the new “homegrown” rule administrators have to pay special attention to the nationality of their players.

According to the premier league website the home grown rule is as follows:

clubs will be required to have a squad named of up to 25 players, of which no more than 17 can be over the age of 21 and not home grown.

The definition of home grown is trained for three years under the age of 21 by somebody in the English and Welsh professional system.

So in effect you can only have 17 players who are not homegrown in your squad, you can have any amount of under 21 players irrespective of his nationality, but once that player is 21 the homegrown rule must be observed.

The premier league also defines under-21 for the 2010/11 campaign as players born on or after 1st January 1989.

There are 22 current Arsenal Squad Members Over 21

• Almunia
• Fabianski
• Mannone
• Sagna
• Eboue
• Vermaelen
• Djourou
• Clichy
• Song
• Denilson
• Diaby

• Fabregas
• Rosicky
• Arshavin
• Nasri
• van Persie
• Eduardo
• Bendtner
• Chamakh
• Koscielny
• Campbell
• Simpson

From the above list 9 players —Mannone, Djourou, Clichy, Song, Denilson, Fabregas, Bendtner, Campbell and Simpson are all homegrown which leaves us with 13 “foreign” players

• Almunia
• Fabianski
• Sagna
• Eboue
• Vermaelen
• Diaby
• Rosicky
• Arshavin
• Nasri
• van Persie
• Eduardo Gone to Shaktar
• Chamakh
• Koscielny

So as it stands Arsenal can only afford to add 3 4 more “old” players to the squad and still meet the requirements of the Premier league rules.

I’ve left out Gallas and Silvestre and retained Campbell as per Wenger’s comments on the official site.

While I can see the thinking behind the homegrown rule, it basically means that a player must prove himself by the age of 21 otherwise the club will have to let him go to free up space for other players. This is exactly the situation with Jay Simpson who at the age of 21 now finds himself in the unenviable position of being surplus to requirements.

Simpson can still be retained, but only just. Unless Wenger decides to promote Bartley or another youngster to the Centre Back position he will have to bring in a new player add to that the possibility of a Goalie and a Defensive Midfielder then you can see how close it is for Simpson. Yet Simpson can develop to be a good premier league player, and owing to Arsenal’s style of play he could easily score as much as Darren Bent with the scoring chances we create as a team.

Unfortunately these rules are essentially forcing management to make a decision on Simpson instead of allowing him a chance to mature. There a players that make their mark at a young age, but the vast majority are not ready at 21. Players like Xavi, Drogba, and Henri could have easily been written off at that age.

It is worth it to note that you don’t have to name 8 home grown players in fact you don’t need to have 25 players either. The only criteria you have to meet is not exceeding 17 foreign players in your squad. Will this rule improve English football? will more British players come through? It remains to be seen.