Premier League rule means Liverpool can only make one more specific signing

Liverpool could find themselves with little room to move in the transfer window this summer

Liverpool could find themselves in a bit of a transfer bind this summer, with the club only allowed to make one more senior non-homegrown signing, as things stand. The Premier League allows a maximum of 17 senior non-homegrown players at a club.

Squads are made up of 25 senior players, with Liverpool currently having enough senior players to fill up their entire squad currently. With nine homegrown and 16 non-homegrown players at the club, the Reds will have to pull off some careful manoeuvring in the window this summer.

The nine homegrown players currently on the club's books are: Joe Gomez, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Conor Bradley, Stefan Bajcetic, James McConnell, Vitezslav Jaros, Jeremie Frimpong (who qualifies via his years spent at Manchester City's academy) and Freddie Woodman.

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The club's 16 non-homegrown players include: Alisson Becker, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Virgil van Dijk, Kostas Tsimikas, Milos Kerkez, Wataru Endo, Florian Wirtz, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa, Calvin Ramsay, Hugo Ekitike and new signing Victor Munoz.

As per the Premier League, a homegrown player is someone 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, or the end of the season during which he turns 21.

Rules state that players who will count as under-21s for the 2026/27 season are those born on or after January 1, 2005.

Rio Ngumoha, Trey Nyoni and new signing Jeremy Jacquet remain on the completely unrestricted Under-21 list because they were born on or after January 1, 2005. While it looks tough for Andoni Iraola to add to his squad this summer, the Under-21 Loophole operates as a huge get-out clause.

It means Liverpool can still buy as many foreign players as they like this summer, provided those players were born on or after January 1, 2005. Under-21 players do not need to be registered on the senior 25-man list and bypass the 17-player non-homegrown cap.

For example, if Liverpool sign 19-year-old Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig, born in November 2006, it would have no impact on their remaining slots. The club could also still manage to buy multiple senior foreign players, provided they sell, loan out, or de-register players currently occupying those 16 slots.

The likes of Federico Chiesa, Wataru Endo, Alisson Becker, Giorgi Mamardashvili and even Cody Gakpo have all been linked with a move away from Anfield this summer. Every time a player leaves, a brand new senior non-homegrown slot opens up.

There is also often the misconception that a team must have eight homegrown players to fill the final slots in the squad. This is not the case in the Premier League, but UEFA do require a set number of “locally trained players” in the group.

However, with Elliott, McConnell, Ramsay, Jones and Bajcetic all facing uncertain futures at Anfield this summer, the Reds may also have to top up their homegrown quota.

There is a solution, with 21 homegrown-eligible players on the club's books. However, not many of those, if any at all at this stage, are ready to make the jump to the first team.

But the Premier League rules mean that, without making sales or excluding a player from their squad list, Liverpool can only make one more senior signing before they reach the maximum 17 non-homegrown players they would be allowed in their 25-man squad.

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