Jamie Gittens was born in Reading, played in the Reading academy, and spent time at Chelsea and Manchester City before heading to Germany in 2020 to continue his footballing journey. He returns this summer as a 20-year-old.
From Caversham Trents as a junior, to the Champions League. Via Borussia Dortmund and the growing hotbed of young talent leaving English academies, he will now cost Chelsea more than £55million if all add-ons are met.
Joining Gittens at Stamford Bridge will be Joao Pedro. Born in Sao Paulo and a graduate of the Fluminense academy, he has taken an increasingly common route to the top himself.
After leaving South America as a teenager, picked up by Watford, he impressed in the Premier League as a dogged but versatile attacker. Brighton would snap him up a few years later and from there, Pedro has become a regular.
He is a Brazil international, has scored 22 Premier League goals, and is grounded in the Championship. Gittens, on the other hand, is continental and is yet to make a senior England appearance.
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He has come through the youth ranks but is not yet in real contention for Thomas Tuchel's stacked side. He will be hoping to change that ahead of the World Cup.
So here are two players, one qualifies as homegrown by Premier League rules and the other does not. It might not be the way around you expect.
Joao Pedro, having spent three years at an FA-affiliated club before his 21st birthday (he was at Watford from 18 to 21), is the one who is classified as homegrown. Gittens, albeit still an Under-21, so does not have to be named in the 25-man Premier League squad for the upcoming 2025/26 season, will not.
His move to Germany from 16 means he does not meet the requirements. For Chelsea, after losing Jadon Sancho and Marcus Bettinelli, this will come as a boost.
Premier League teams cannot name any more than 17 non-homegrown players born before January 1, 2004 in their squad for the upcoming season. Under Clearlake Capital-Todd Boehly, this has not been an issue. It rarely is for anyone.
Sometimes accommodations have to be made in Europe or domestically if the quota is not met, though. Chelsea's youth recruitment drive has seen them stacked with Under-21 players in recent years.
For example, Malo Gusto, Cole Palmer, and Levi Colwill were among those deemed Under-21s for Mauricio Pochettino's single season in charge. With Chelsea's young crop all ageing (despite still being incredibly young), they have to bear the homegrown list in mind.
Currently, they have Robert Sanchez (Spanish but came through the ranks in the EFL with Blackburn Rovers and Forest Green), Colwill, Palmer, Liam Delap, Reece James, Tosin Adarabioyo, Romeo Lavia, Trevoh Chalobah, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall as homegrown players. Pedro will add to that and give some leeway.
Before Delap and with the exit of Sancho and Bettinelli, Chelsea would have been on the verge, especially as Dewsbury-Hall has an uncertain future. Noni Madueke, similar to Gittens, does not count having gone to PSV Eindhoven after leaving Tottenham and Crystal Palace.
Chelsea are also unlikely to be registering Ben Chilwell, Raheem Sterling, Carney Chukwuemeka, or Armando Broja, who would all qualify. Regardless, with Delap and Pedro, they now have more than enough.
Josh Acheampong and Tyrique George are both Under-21s. Marc Guiu, Mamadou Sarr, Mike Penders, Aaron Anselmino, Dario Essugo, and Andrey Santos all come under the same bracket.
This helps to flesh out Maresca's squad before even thinking about the non-homegrown numbers. For Chelsea, who see Pedro as someone able to cover up front, on the left, and as a No.10, this is just another benefit.