The transfers of Gallagher, Barkley, Iling-Junior and McKennie will cause huge problems in the Champions League

Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery will have to make some big decisions in order to comply with both the Premier League and Champions League squad rules.

Every Premier League club must submit a squad list after the close of each transfer window. Teams are allowed to name a squad of 25 players, with a minimum of eight who are classified as Homegrown players. A Home Player is a player who, regardless of nationality or age, has been registered with any FA or Welsh FA affiliated club for a period, whether continuous or not, of three full seasons before reaching the age of 21.

In the Premier League, a player is deemed to be of origin when he has been registered with an English or Welsh club for a period of three seasons (or years) before his 21st birthday. Last season, Villa fielded a 23-man squad with seven homegrown players, while Tim Iroegbunam was listed as an under-21 player.

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Morgan Rogers will turn 22 in January and will have to be listed in the 25-man squad rather than as an under-21 as he was in February. Cameron Archer, who returns to the club after relegation from Sheffield United, would also be named in the 25-man squad if he stays at the club, although it is unlikely. Viljami Sinisalo also qualifies as a local player, but a decision on his future will also be made this summer.

Meanwhile, Calum Chambers will be allowed to leave the club this summer given his lack of game time under Emery last season. Matty Cash, another homegrown player, is of interest to AC Milan this summer.

Ross Barkley and Samuel Iling-Junior are expected to sign for Villa this summer, adding at least two more homegrown players to Emery’s squad. Conor Gallagher is of interest to Villa and could be targeted once the club raise funds.

Villa currently have 10 players who would be included in their 25-man Premier League squad and also fit the local quota. They are: Emi Martinez, Sinisalo, Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Rogers, Jacob Ramsey, Ollie Watkins, Archer and Chambers. Barkley and Iling-Junior would take the number to 12, but if Archer, Sinisalo, Chambers and Cash were all gone, the number would drop to eight.

Iroegbunam also qualifies for the local quota, but if he stays at the club this summer, they are unlikely to name him in the 25-man squad given he is still classified as an under-21 player.

This is where things get a little more complicated. UEFA have their own squad rules that Villa will have to abide by when competing in the Champions League. Each club playing in the competition must submit two player lists to UEFA; list A and list B. In list A, no club can have more than 25 players. However, a club can register an unlimited number of players on the B list. Each club must also have at least two goalkeepers on the A list and three after combining the A and B lists.

In the Champions League, eight A-list squad places are reserved for “home-grown players” or home-grown players who are either: club-trained players on the books of a club for three years between the ages of 15 and 21, be trained by the association. players, who have been on the books of another club in the same association for three years, aged between 15 and 21.

No club can have more than four association trained players out of the eight locally trained players, meaning there must be at least four club trained players. Essentially, four players in the 25-man squad must be club-trained and a further four association-trained, leaving 17 player places without any “restrictions” as such.

Among Villa’s homegrown players, only Ramsey, Iroegbunam and Archer are club-trained players. However, 20-year-old Iroegbunam could be named on the B List as, when Villa send their squad, he would qualify as a club-trained player as he has been with Villa for 36 months , after joining the club on 29 July 2021 and had a one season loan move to Queens Park Rangers.

If a club has fewer than eight locally trained players in their squad, then the maximum number of A-list players is reduced accordingly. For example, if Villa only name Ramsey as a club-trained player, plus four more association-trained players, then Villa’s squad size will be reduced by three, which is the amount of club-trained places they have not filled .

Last February, the team (homegrown in daring) that Villa submitted for the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League was…

Emiliano MartinezJoe Gauci, Robin Olsen.

Matty CashDiego Carlos, Ezri KonsaLucas Digne, Pau Torres, Alex Moreno, Clement Lenglet.

Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Youri Tielemans, Jacob Ramsey, Tim IroegbunamBoubacar Kamara.

Ollie WatkinsMoussa Diaby, Nicolo Zaniolo, John Duran, Morgan RogersLeon Bailey

Next season, Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia are expected to replace Clement Lenglet and Nicolo Zaniolo, while Barkley, Iling-Junior and Weston McKennie should also come in as Luiz steps down. Those bids alone would push Villa over the allowed limit, given that they can only name a squad of 22 if Ramsey is indeed the only club-trained player named.

If Duran leaves then another striker could replace him and the same goes for Cash, a right back could be signed if AC Milan meet Villa’s valuation. However, if Villa were to add Conor Gallagher to their squad without him replacing someone directly, then Emery may have to make a tough call.

The additions of Gallagher – or another midfielder – plus Barkley, Iling-Junior and McKennie, but minus Luiz and Iroegbunam (List B) would take the squad to 24 players, two more than the allowed amount, with Ramsey likely to be the only chicken – called a trained player. Villa must name at least two List A goalkeepers, but could drop either Robin Olsen or Joe Gauci in a bid to make more room, leaving Emery with a tough call to cut another player from the squad.

Here’s what the squad would then look like with the possible addition of Gallagher, plus Barkley, Iling-Junior and McKennie, with Luiz, Gauci and Iroegbunam out. It leaves Emery with the decision to drop one of the players below to get to 22 in total. While the futures of some players are uncertain, any exit is likely to be replaced as Villa need strength in depth.

Emiliano MartinezRobin Olsen.

Matty CashDiego Carlos, Ezri KonsaLucas Digne, Pau Torres, Alex Moreno, Tyrone Mings.

John McGinn, Youri Tielemans, Jacob RamseyBoubacar Kamara, Weston McKennie, ROSSI Barkley, Samuel Iling-Junior, Conor Gallagher

Ollie WatkinsMoussa Diaby, Emi Buendia, John Duran, Morgan RogersLeon Bailey

The List A team must be submitted on 3 September for all matches from the first leg of the league stage up to and including the final.

After the completion of the league phase and before the start of the knockout phase, Villa can register a maximum of three new eligible players for the remaining matches of the current competition. Such registrations must be completed no later than 6 February 2025 (24:00 CET).

If the registration of such new players causes the number of players on List A to exceed 25, Villa must remove the necessary number of currently registered players to reduce List A to 25 players again. The quota of locally trained players must be respected when registering new players.

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