The “Home Grown Rule” has been making it’s way around FIFA circles for awhile, but now Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore has announced that beginning next season every team must name a squad of 25, 8 of which must be home grown.

Via Soccernet 

A home grown player is any player who has played for an English or Welsh club for three years before their 21st birthday.

At present every Premier League club already passes the test, though Chelsea and Liverpool both have the bare minimum of eight.

In addition, there will be tighter controls on the spending of top flight clubs.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore revealed: “As of next season 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. Clubs will have to declare their 25 at the end of August when the window shuts and then again at the end of January.

But Scudamore was quick to rubbish suggestions that the rule would encourage Premier League clubs to sign foreign teenagers to train in their Academy for three years.

“It’s not in the club’s interests to stockpile players. It will make buying home-grown talent more attractive,” he insisted. “We’re not going down the route of a nationality test but what this will mean is that you just can’t buy a team from abroad.

“We think it will give clubs an extra incentive to invest in youth. We think that one of the benefits will be that it will help the England team.”

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