FIFA appear to be on a mission to evolve the sport of football for the better, and so they are proposing several changes on and off the pitch.
It was reported that FIFA is set to make it an immediate red card offence if a player leaves the pitch during a game and for players who cover their mouths when confronting an opponent at the World Cup.
Meanwhile, it has been well publicised that the sport is trialling Arsene Wenger’s offside rule in an attempt to make football more exciting.
Now, it has been reported by the Times that clubs would be required to have at least one homegrown under-21 player on the pitch at all times under a radical plan.
This idea could even apply to under-20 players instead, and it may possibly have a potentially seismic impact on clubs’ transfer policy, team selections and even on substitutions.
Behind this idea is the aim of helping the development of young players, but before it can go through, it will be put to different footballing bodies before a formal proposal is submitted to Fifa’s Council next year.
Max Dowman
Max Dowman
The potential impact on Arsenal and Liverpool is significant
A plan in which clubs in the Premier League would need to ensure that there is an England U-21 on the pitch at all times would have a significant impact on several clubs, at least to begin with, including Liverpool and Arsenal.
According to Opta stats this season, only two English U21 players have featured for either Arne Slot or Mikel Arteta’s sides in each of the clubs’ starting line-ups.
While this is worrying for the two English giants, there are six other clubs that have started fewer in the form of Aston Villa, Burnley, Brentford and Leeds United, who have not had a single English U21 player start any of their league matches this season, while Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest have included such a player in just one game.
Meanwhile, Manchester City are the club who would have been least affected by such a rule had it been in place this season, as they have had an English U-21 player in 30 of their 33 matches.
Pep Guardiola’s side are fairly ahead of all the other teams in the Premier League; however, following next in the table are the likes of Newcastle United on 23 matches, Crystal Palace on 21 and Manchester United on 20.