No, it's only for players registered with a rival Premier League or EFL side in the preceding 18 months. I think (may be wrong) that we can still sign young lads as long as they're for the 1st team, not the academy. Either way Walker would be clear.I need to ask a daft question.
Will this affect us signing someone like Kyle Walker, as he was once at an English club's academy? Or does it only apply to current academy players?
Taken with the shockingly poor admin for the drug tests issue it looks like the the club is so focused on maximising commercial income that it's letting things slide on the footballing side. Senior management should be getting a rocket up their arses for this, not just the admin officers directly responsible for the errors.
It's no use saying 'we reckon others are breaking the rules too, just getting away with it' - it may well be true, but it's an amateur retort. We have to look at ourselves, not other clubs and question how we are so easily caught out by these things. It's not the first issue we've had and whilst other major clubs have fallen foul of similar matters, that's no excuse either. Our prime concern should be to make damn sure it's not US. We've failed to do that.
Without knowing the details there's no way to judge, it could be as simple as playing a rival club and someones parents asking how to get their kid in at our place, the parents are told to give us a call. Boom, you're knackered (unless the parents keep their mouths shut).It's no use saying 'we reckon others are breaking the rules too, just getting away with it' - it may well be true, but it's an amateur retort. We have to look at ourselves, not other clubs and question how we are so easily caught out by these things. It's not the first issue we've had and whilst other major clubs have fallen foul of similar matters, that's no excuse either. Our prime concern should be to make damn sure it's not US. We've failed to do that.