Arsenal will have to rework their squad to sign more players following Christos Tzolis' arrival at the club due to Premier League rules
13:20, 17 Jul 2026
Christos Tzolis will become another non-homegrown player for Arsenal
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Christos Tzolis will become another non-homegrown player for Arsenal(Image: BRUNO FAHY / BELGA MAG / Belga / AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal are set to complete the signing of Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge for around £34million football.london understands. The Greek international comes highly recommended after 51 goal contributions last season.
The Gunners’ loss of Leandro Trossard has now been dealt with swiftly, and Tzolis becomes the third permanent addition to Mikel Arteta’s squad this summer. However, should sporting director Andrea Berta want to make several other new signings, outgoings will be needed.
Not specifically because of needing to bring money in, but instead making space. The league’s restrictions on non-homegrown players mean the club are in something of a bind.
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Squads are made up of 25 players, maximum; Premier League rules dictate you can have up to 17 non-homegrown players. Rules state players who will count as under-21s for the 2026/27 season are those born on or after January 1, 2005 – meaning that Cristhian Mosquera will no longer count as an under-21 player this season.
There is often a common misconception that a team must have eight homegrown players to make up 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, of which Arsenal have plenty and could yet acquire more.
Mosquera is one of 15 players who are ‘non-homegrown’, including Illan Meslier, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Piero Hincapie, Gabriel, Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori, Martin Odegaard, Christian Norgaard, Fabio Vieira, Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi, Gabriel Jesus, Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz.
Trossard was also non-homegrown, and so being replaced by Tzolis does not change the squad’s make-up in that sense. However, with links to Bruno Guimaraes, Julian Alvarez and Bradley Barcola, who are all non-homegrown, it could put pressure on outgoings.
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Primary target Morgan Rogers is homegrown and so would not be a problem to acquire. There are not, however, many concerns at present on this matter with Jesus, Vieira, Norgaard and Kepa all being linked with potential summer exits, opening up more slots to make new signings.