Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger in all he does » Arsenal’s squad for next season: no restriction on the number of new players
It’s clear we are about to buy Chamakh. And the Lord Wenger has announced that he will be buying some defenders. In the plural. At least two. Maybe more.
In fact, if you manage to plough through all my ramblings, you will see I am predicting a giant squad (and not as I wrote in the first draft, a giant squid) of 39 players.
But recently some blogs have run stories countering this, saying something like this
“Oh my God, Wenger can only buy one player, because we can’t fit them all in the squad under the new 25 player rule.”
As a result the catastrophists have had great fun saying “that’s it then, we are doomed, it is the same people again as last year”.
I don’t blame the bloggers who ran such stories, because I made a mistake in my understanding of the 25 player rules when I first ran this story. The info on the Arsenal site and on many other sites is incomplete, and you have to be careful how you read the new 25 players rule.
But in fact Wenger can buy anyone he fancies, and some he doesn’t.
Alexej Behnisch came to my rescue last time around, and I am staying with his analysis. But if you want to check it out, try the official announcement from the Premier League
I have reprinted how it works at the end of this piece – if you think I am getting the players wrong, you can check the details here first.
So here we go with the squad….
Part One: Over 21 years old as of 1 January 2010
1 Almunia 32 2 Fabianski 24 3 Mannone 21 (Home Grown Player No 1) 4 Sagna 26 5 Eboue 26 6 Vermaelen 24 7 Djourou 22 (Home Grown Player No 2) 8 Clichy 24 (Home Grown Player No 3) 9 Song 22 (Home Grown Player No 4) 10 Denilson 21 (Home Grown Player No 5) 11 Diaby 23 12 Fabregas 22 (Home Grown Player No 6) 13 Rosicky 29 14 Arshavin 28 15 Nasri 22 16 van Persie 26 17 Eduardo 26 18 Bendtner 21 (Home Grown Player No 7) 19 * Gallas 32 or New Defender of Any Age or Background 20 * Silvestre 32 or New Defender of Any Age or Background
21 * Campbell 35 (Home Grown Player No 
(eight – my computer is being silly)
22 Chamakh 27 23 New Recruit of Any Age of Background. (Hazard???) 24 New Recruit of Any Age or Background. (Yaya Toure???)
25 New Recruit Any Age or Background (A N Other-Defender)
Which means that after the arrival of Chamakh we have
- Spaces for New Recruits of Any Age – 3
- Spaces for New Recruits of Any Age to replace Gallas / Silvestre – 2
- Space for Home Grown Player if Campbell leaves – 1
And yes I know throwing Yaya in is a bit soft because he joins us every transfer window and then leaves again, but you never know…
Part two: Under 21 years old as of 1 January 2010. Remember these players don’t count in the 25 even if they were raised in Gondwanaland. We’ve noted if they are home grown, even though at this age it is irrelevant. All that counts is how old they were on 1 Jan 2010.
1 Szczcesny 19 Home Grown 2 Gibbs 20 Home Grown 3 Traore 20 Home Grown 4 Eastmond 19 Home Grown 5 Ramsey 19 Home Grown 6 Wilshere 18 Home Grown 7 Walcott 20 Home Grown 8 Vela 20
9 * Merida 19 ** Home Grown
* Contract expires at the end of July 2010
** Another year needed to qualify for home-grown status
- So, all of our first team squad can be accommodated and we have a place for Chamakh, plus three other players without any reference to upbringing and without kicking anyone out.
- If Gallas and/or Silvestre don’t renew we can replace them with anyone irrespective of colour, creed, age, race, Football Association, place of birth, type of soap used in the bath, colour of washing-up liquid, country they choose to play for….
- All of our favourite kiddies from the season just gone can be accommodated.
- And we still have room for as many of the staggeringly brilliant youth team that has just won the league for an unprecedented second year running, as we want – irrespective of their race etc etc.
Part three: The up and coming
So who are we going to bring in to the first team squad, given that we have so many spare places? How about
- Goal: Szczensy (he’s already on the list above)
- Central defence: Nordtveit, Bartley
- Wide defence:
- Defensive midfield: Emmanuel Thomas, Coquelin
- Attacking midfield: Lansbury, Barazite
- Attack: Wellington Silva, Afobe
Some of these players can play in several positions – the most obvious case of Emmanuel Thomas who can play here, there and everywhere, and then some. Coquelin can play full back etc etc.
And so, ladies and gents, I give you our squad, 2010/11, all within the new rules of the game, and no restrictions on replacing a home grown or under age player with someone older – we’ve plenty of space.
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The squad of 39 for 2010/2011
Goal: Szczensy, Almunia, Fabianski, Manone
Central defence: Vermaelen, Djourou, Nordtveit, Bartley, Gallas*, Silvestre*, Campbell*, A N Other, A N Other
Wide defence: Sagna, Eboue, Clichy, Gibbs, Traore, A N Other
Defensive midfield: Song, Denilson, Emmanuel Thomas, Coquelin, Eastmond, Ramsey
Attacking midfield: Nasri, Lansbury, Barazite, Diaby, Fabregas, Rosicky, Wilshire, Merida
Attack: Arshavin, Van Persie, Wellington Silva, Afobe, Eduardo, Chamakh, Vela, Bendtner
* Players who might leave to be replaced by younger versions
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The rules
Squad registration list must be submitted at the end of the transfer window: 31 August 2010, and then again on 31 January 2011.
Squad size limit – Maximum 25 players over 21 years. No limit for under-21 players.
Age definition – 1 January of the season’s starting year. 1 January 2010 for the 2010/11 season.
Home-grown quota – 8 of the 25 squad places can only be filled with home-grown players. Thus, only 17 foreign-grown players (over 21 years) are allowed.
Home-grown (1) age – All club registrations before the age of 21 (at the end of the season).
Home-grown (2) home – All clubs registered with the English or Welsh FA.
Home-grown (3) length – Minimum period of 3 seasons or 36 months (continuous or not).