Premier League squad lists are due this weekplaceholder image
Premier League squad lists are due this week | Getty Images
A look at the Premier League squad list rules that London clubs and their rivals must abide by.
The summer transfer window already feels like a distant memory as clubs prepare to return to action as the international window winds down. There have been new signings aplenty across the Premier League, and the London clubs have been a big part of the huge spending that has taken place in the English top flight in the summer just gone.
Much is made of the summer transfer deadline, but there are other deadlines that clubs must be aware of, and one of those includes the Premier League’s 25-man squad list submission deadline, which ultimately decides which players are eligible to play in the Premier League. Those involved in European campaigns have already submitted their European squads, and here we take a look at when the Premier League deadline is likely to be and the rules involved in the process.
When is the 2025/26 Premier League squad list deadline?
The actual date fo the Premier League 25-man squad list submission deadline has not been confirmed, with the Premier League only detailing it as ‘after the transfer window closes’ in their descriptions. But for a guide, last season’s deadline was September 14, and it is likely that it will be a similar date, with Saturday, September 14 the likely candidate.
The submission deadline is usually two weeks after the transfer window shuts to allow any post-window free agent signings to be registered, and it usually coincides with the first game back after the international window.
What are the rules for the Premier League squad list?
Each Premier League club must submit a 25-man squad list that contains no more than 17 players who do not fit the Home Grown Player criteria. The remaining eight spots must be Home Grown.
Home Grown Players are defined as players who have been registered with any FA or FAW (Wales) clubs for a continuous or collective period of 36 months before their 21st birthday, or the end of the season during which they turn 21. Those players can be of any nationality as long as they fit into the criteria.
It’s also worth noting that players under the age of 21 are not required to be submitted as part of the 25-man squads, but they are still eligible to play in the Premier League. That means the 25-man squads are only made up of players aged 21 and over.
When can the Premier League squads be adjusted?
Players aged 21 or over who are not registered in their club’s Premier League squad are not able to play Premier League football until the transfer window reopens on January 1. Players can then be registered and there is an additional deadline in February, after the closure of the January transfer deadline, which works in the exact same way.
It is worth noting that players who are not registered are still eligible to play in the cup competitions, while the European competitions have their own set of squad registration rules that restrict any out of window signings from playing until after the group phase should they now be registered before the deadline.
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