Hart of the matter said:
Is FFP restricts to 21 including 8 HG we may end up with a squad of just 18. 13 overseas, 4 HG and 1 club trained. Everything else would have to come from B list.
This is how I understand it. 13 overseas players would massively impact our challenge in Europe next season and also our transfer policy this summer.
Clubs must submit two lists of players to UEFA: an A List and a B List. List B comprises of players under the age of 21 and there is no limit to the number of players that can be submitted to this list. However, players 21 and under may still be registered on the A List as seen with Nastasic and Johansen in the 2013/2014 campaign.
List A is more complicated. The maximum number of over-21 players that a club may submit is 25, but 8 of these must be 'homegrown' (HG), that is, trained at an English club for 3 years before the age of 21 (hence why Clichy and Fabregas qualify as this). At least 4 of these homegrown players must be 'club-trained' (CG), having spent 3 or more years at the club's academy.
Therefore, of the 25-man-squad submitted by a club, there is a limit of 17 'overseas' players.
City's registered Champions League squad for the season just gone consisted of 24 players:
A List:
Goalkeepers: Hart (HG), Pantilimon, Johansen (CG)
Defenders: Richards (CG), Zabaleta, Boyata (CG) Kompany, Lescott (HG), Demichelis, Nastasic, Clichy (HG), Kolarov
Midfielders: Milner (HG), Nasri, Garcia, Navas, Rodwell (HG), Silva, Fernandinho, Toure
Forwards: Negredo, Dzeko, Jovetic, Aguero
B List (U21 players):
Lawlor, Drury, Kennedy, Facey, Swan, Plummer, Leigh, Huws, Henshall, Hutton, Glendon, Hiwula, Cole
Of the 24 registered players, 16 were trained overseas, 8 were homegrown and 3 club-trained. The absence of a fourth club-trained player meant that we were unable to submit a full 25-man-squad, but no problems there.
In fact, only 21 of the 24 registered A list players featured in the 2013-2014 campaign, with Johansen, Boyata, and Jovetic not registering a single appearance between them. Thus the proposed restriction to 21 players for City's apparent breach of UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations shouldn't, on the face of it, impact the team too severely.
However, assuming that Richards, Lescott and Rodwell are all to leave the club this summer, as indicated in their respective interviews in the past week, City would be losing one club-trained player and two homegrown players.
Thus the potential Champions League squad, presuming no players besides the aforementioned leave the club and no others are signed would look something like this:
Goalkeepers:
Hart (HG), Pantilimon, Johansen (CG)
Defenders:
Zabaleta, Boyata (CG), Kompany, Demichelis, Nastasic, Clichy (HG), Kolarov
Midfielders:
Milner (HG), Nasri, Garcia, Navas, Silva, Fernandinho, Toure
Forwards:
Negredo, Dzeko, Jovetic, Aguero
This squad includes 16 overseas players, 5 homegrown and just 2 club-trained players. UEFA's reported punishment limiting City's playable squad to 21 would mean that there would be a maximum of
13 overseas players, so 3 of the above players would have to miss out on Champions League competition.
These would likely be: Pantilimon, Kolarov and Nastasic, with the remaining overseas players seemingly essential.
Richard Wright (HG), or Ian Lawlor (CG but still under-21) would likely join Hart and Johansen as the 3 available goalkeepers. With Clichy qualifying as homegrown, his inclusion ahead of Kolarov is a straightforward one, and Demichelis would surely get the nod ahead of Nastasic due to his Champions League experience.
A potential restriction on Champions League squad size will obviously therefore dictate our summer transfer plans. Working on the above assumption (and of course that is all it is), we would be unable to add any overseas players to our European roster. Mangala and Fernando have both been heavily linked, but their arrivals and presumed inclusion in our European team would mean that a further two overseas players would have to miss out (perhaps Mangala replacing Demichelis and Fernando replacing Garcia), but the squad would still remain threadbare.
It is for this reason that I expect City to promote Huws (CG but still under-21) to the A List, as well as offering Boyata a contract extension, and recall Karim Rekik from PSV, possibly at the expense of Nastasic who the club may look to offload after he has struggled with both his form and injury this season. A return for Guidetti is possible after his disastrous loan at Stoke in the second half of the season, but he's unlikely to be content with another year spent largely on the sidelines at this stage in his career. Perhaps a surprise return for Gareth Barry (HG) may be on the cards? I would personally love for Trippier to return after a brilliant season in the Championship with Burnley. Trippier (23) would qualify as club-trained and recently made it into the Championship team of the season. Lopes will remain on the B List as he does not yet qualify as club-trained.
The proposed squad restrictions, if enforced (which is another matter entirely), I believe will force City to target English players in the Summer. For this reason Ashley Cole could well be an option with his contract at Chelsea set to expire. It would also make sense for the club to go all out on a move for Ross Barkley. Fabregas (HG) in another alternative having spent over three years at Arsenal before turning 21.
If we did move for Cole, then I imagine that would rule out a move for Shaw, but we'd be lacking a top-class left-back, so I personally would go all out for Shaw. I wouldn't be surprised to see us looking at Walcott either.
Of course, the above is all subject to UEFA's squad restrictions being fully implemented, but if it is, it will have severe implications on City's 25-man-squad for European competition in 2014-2015 season.
Potential A List squad if punishment is imposed:
Goalkeepers:
Hart (HG), Richard Wright (HG), Johansen (CG).
Defenders:
Zabaleta, Trippier (CG), Boyata (CG), Kompany, Demichelis/Mangala, Clichy (HG)
Midfielders:
Milner (HG), Nasri, Garcia/Fernando/Fabregas, Navas, Silva, Fernandinho, Toure, Huws (CG)
Forwards:
Negredo, Dzeko, Jovetic, Aguero.
= 21 players, 13 overseas, 8 homegrown, 4 club-trained.
B List players who would be likely to feature but not registered as A List:
Rekik, Lopes (don't yet qualify as club-trained), Shaw (HG), Barkley (HG).
