January is over and Tottenham barely broke a sweat in the transfer window, which means the Lilywhites’ Premier League squad is pretty simple to work out.
Spurs fans were waiting and wishing for a busy deadline day, but young Scotsman James Wilson was the only new arrival.
It was highly disappointing, particularly considering Thomas Frank has so many injuries to contend with in the Tottenham squad right now.
With just the three confirmed deals for Spurs in January, plus a few notable outgoings, here’s a look at that depleted squad for the rest of the Premier League campaign.
- READ MORE: Five positions Tottenham still need to strengthen after January transfer window struggles
Tottenham have space in their Premier League squad
Premier League squads can contain 25 players. Within that 25-man squad, teams must have a maximum of 17 non-homegrown players over the age of 21.
Clubs must register eight homegrown players. The definition of a homegrown player is “a player who, irrespective of 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, before his 21st birthday.”
If a club can’t meet this eight-man requirement, the squad must be reduced in size accordingly to compensate for each homegrown slot not filled. Spurs are a great example of that rule. They only have seven homegrown players, so would only be able to register a 24-man squad.
At the moment, Spurs only have 16 non-homegrown players in their squad anyway, so it’s not much of an issue.
Here are the 16 non-homegrown players registered: Guglielmo Vicario, Antonin Kinsky, Pedro Porro, Radu Dragusin, Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma, Joao Palhinha, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, Pape Matar Sarr, Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, Randal Kolo Muani.
Meanwhile, Tottenham’s seven homegrown players includes new signing Conor Gallagher, while Kevin Danso qualifies as homegrown due to time spent in the MK Dons and Reading youth system when he was younger. Brennan Johnson’s exit was essentially rectified by Gallagher’s arrival.
Here are the seven homegrown players registered: Dominic Solanke, Kevin Danso, Brandon Austin, Ben Davies, James Maddison, Conor Gallagher, Djed Spence.
In essence, then, Tottenham could still add two players to their squad, if they were to sign any free agents. However, they would only be able to sign one non-homegrown player and one homegrown player.
Should we be worried that Raheem Sterling is still available? Maybe.
Under-21 players don’t impact Premier League rules for Spurs
Thankfully, Under-21 players do not count towards the Premier League’s 25-man rule. That means new signings Souza and James Wilson can be registered on the Under-21 list.
So, too, can Mason Melia, as well as first-team regulars Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Wilson Odobert, and Mathys Tel.
Given the state of the fitness levels in the senior squad, we may well see plenty of youngsters getting minutes over the next few months.