A look at Tottenham’s squad registration dilemma ahead of the transfer deadline

The transfer window closes on Friday, and Tottenham have altered their squad fairly well already this summer. But, ahead of the squad registration deadlines, there may still be work to be done to comply with the rules.

Premier League is not an issue

This summer has seen an incredible exodus at the club, with a slew of fringe players leaving the club. It has been the rebuild and clearout that fans have been crying out for, and it leaves the squad in a good place.

So too do the signings of Dominic Solanke, Wilson Odobert, and Archie Gray. With better strength in depth and less deadwood in the squad, Ange Postecoglou is seemingly happy with his roster right now.

There are still two players to move on, though. Giovani Lo Celso and Sergio Reguilon are not thought to have a future at the club, and letting them leave would make things even simpler from a squad registration point of view.

The good news is, the Premier League rules are very simple, and Tottenham will have no trouble complying with them. Clubs can register up to 25 players, with a maximum of 17 non-homegrown players.

Players under the age of 21 do not need to be registered, so the likes of Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray, Mikey Moore, and Will Lankshear are free hits.

The squad already has space for one more foreign player, and if Lo Celso and Reguilon do move on as planned, Spurs would technically be able to register up to three more non-homegrown players.

Europa League causes complications

However, Postecoglou will need to do a fair bit of juggling when it comes to sorting out his Europa League squad.

As things stand, due to Bergvall having to be registered among the foreign player spots, Spurs have got the maximum 17 there. Removing Lo Celso and Reguilon from that equation would make things a little easier, but that wouldn’t solve the bigger issue.

The club has seven association-trained players (Fraser Forster, Brandon Austin, Alfie Whiteman, Djed Spence, Ben Davies, Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke) and only four spots available.

Anyone not included in those four spots would have to be registered in the non-homegrown list, which, as we already said, is looking pretty tight.

If the club cannot fulfil these rules, they will need to reduce the squad accordingly, meaning a 24-man squad is a very possible outcome for Spurs in the Europa League.

This will all get even more complicated if the club were to sign anyone else before the transfer window shuts. If it’s a foreign player, someone will miss out on the non-homegrown list. If it’s a homegrown player, it will push another association-trained player into the foreign list.

One solution could be to sign a former player, like Marcus Edwards or Kyle Walker-Peters. Another could be to register an academy player in the squad, but that would be a bit of a waste as they can already be included in the B-squad without impacting the main squad.

Essentially, Tottenham may need to move on more players this month, or disappoint one or two players by not including them in the Europa League squad.

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