Arsenal have signed England international Noni Madueke from Chelsea, who bought Brazilian Joao Pedro from Brighton & Hove Albion earlier this month — but due to Premier League rules, only the latter qualifies as a ‘homegrown player’.
Nationality and age have nothing to do with being considered a ‘homegrown’ player, which is defined as one who has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association (FA) or the Football Association of Wales (FAW) for three entire seasons before their 21st birthday, or the end of that same season they turn 21.
Arsenal’s Madueke left Tottenham Hotspur to join Dutch side PSV during his development, and therefore doesn’t qualify as homegrown, while Joao Pedro does as he joined Watford at the age of 18.
So why does this less-discussed quirk to transfer activity matter? Because Premier League clubs will submit a squad list of up to 25 players after the transfer window closes on September 1, and each must contain no more than 17 players who do not fulfil the ‘homegrown player’ criteria.
So, who classifies as one? Which clubs currently have the most and how could they impact this summer’s transfer business?
What is a homegrown player?
A homegrown player is one of any nationality who has been registered with any club affiliated to the FA or the FAW for three entire seasons — this doesn’t have to be continuous — before their 21st birthday or the end of that same season they turn 21. They can be loan players.
As there are 17 places in a 25-man squad for players who do not qualify as homegrown, this leaves eight slots available for homegrown footballers. However, clubs don’t have to fulfil a 25-man squad and therefore may have fewer than 17 non-homegrown players, or fewer than eight homegrown players.
For instance, a club could have a 21-man squad with 16 non-homegrown players and five homegrown. Or they could have a 25-man squad with 20 homegrown players and five non-homegrown. The only restriction is 17 non-homegrown internationals.
England international Noni Madueke counts as a non-homegrown player (Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
We also need to be aware of under-21 players who, for the 2025-26 Premier League season, will have been born on or after January 1, 2004.
These players, who can be of any nationality, are eligible to play in England’s top flight but do not count towards a 25-man squad list. Once they become 22 or are 21 but born after January 1, they are classified as either homegrown or non-homegrown. A club suffering from a lack of homegrown players would have to rely on under-21 talent on matchdays.
Some managers prefer smaller squads and others larger, but with the workload of several competitions over the season, it is advantageous to have a greater number of players to rely on.
How many homegrown players did clubs have last season?
In the 2024-25 campaign, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers had the fewest number of homegrown players with seven. Crystal Palace led the way with 15 and Newcastle United were just behind with 14.
The table below displays teams that remain in the Premier League from last season and is accurate from the last squad list Premier League sides submitted, following the January transfer window, displaying how their squads looked as they approached this summer.
Homegrown players by Premier League club 2024-25
How does this impact this summer’s transfer window?
For the clubs with the fewest number of homegrown players, potential signings with homegrown or under-21 status may appear slightly more favourable. They will also be limited by the cap of 17 non-homegrown internationals and may have to move some of these players on to bring others in.
The graphic below represents how many non-homegrown players the Premier League clubs have on their books as things stand, with plenty of work still to be done this summer for some. Those with over 17 non-homegrown internationals will need to either sell or loan out players to reach 17, else they risk excluding players from their squad.
Non-homegrown players at PL clubs
On the opposite end, Everton have only seven non-homegrown players, and 20 players in total, so they have plenty of space for new additions.
Manchester City have already seen two homegrown players leave this summer in goalkeeper Scott Carson (although he was replaced by Marcus Bettinelli from Chelsea, who fits the category) and Kyle Walker, with the futures of Jack Grealish and James McAtee, who also count, unresolved. Neither Rayan Ait-Nouri nor Tijjani Reijnders are homegrown, and even though fellow summer signing Rayan Cherki is under 21, they are over the cap, with 20 non-homegrown players as things stand.
In this window, Wolves sold two non-homegrown internationals in Matheus Cunha and Ait-Nouri for a combined £95million ($127.4m). This gave them funds to spend, but they still have three too many non-homegrown internationals after signing Fer Lopez from Celta Vigo, and they are close to completing the signing of 27-year-old Jhon Arias from Fluminense.
(Top photos: Joao Pedro, left, and Noni Madueke; Getty Images)
