24 Jun 2026 20:44:29
Fiorentina are reportedly in talks to sign Hugo Bueno.
25 Jun 2026 12:09:57
Cozier-Duberry and Arrey-Mbi spent 3 years in a British club before the age of 21.
So both are home grown.
25 Jun 2026 17:09:59
Where are you seeing that exactly Fosun? Cause from I can see Arrey Mbi hasn't even kicked a ball in England?
25 Jun 2026 17:59:38
Youth teams.
25 Jun 2026 19:14:29
He did spend some time in English youth teams (he had 5 games for our U18), but not enough continually to qualify as homegrown, I'm afraid.
25 Jun 2026 23:04:13
Played for Norwich and Chelsea for the minimum 3 years before 21 years of age.
Homegrown.
25 Jun 2026 23:36:23
But he moved to Bayern when he was 16, and the clock only starts ticking from 15, I'm afraid. I suspect this is all academic, frankly, as Arsenal were after him six months ago. Either way, he moved to Germany at 16 so wouldn't be classified as homegrown.
26 Jun 2026 09:14:13
It's a bit of a jump from 'he has never kicked a ball in England' to 'the rules start at 16'.
So, what's an academy graduate under these rules you have made up?
If they have played in an FA or FAW club for 3 years before 21, they are classed as homegrown.
The whole point of the scheme was to attract more clubs to play youngsters. In your scheme, clubs would stop playing them, as they wouldn't be homegrown.
26 Jun 2026 12:01:49
This is an interesting point.
My research on the internet is sadly somewhat contradictory.
The direct question - is Bright Arrey-Mbi "homegrown"? - elicits the answer "yes!" as he spent 5 years at Chelsea from 11 -16 thus meeting the 3 years before 21 rule
But the question -"how young do you have to be to start your qualifying process? " - elicits the answer 15 so he would fail to meet the rule having moved to Germany a mere 1 year later.
Ed any clarity??
{Ed001's Note - I thought it started counting from 15, so between the ages of 15-21. That was how it was in the past, but they do have a habit of changing regulations fairly often. However, I have not heard of any change in this reg.}
26 Jun 2026 12:49:45
So what is Jude Bellingham? He only spent one season in the EFL before moving to Dortmund.
Homegrown or not homegrown?
The rule is to stop players being signed from overseas, not to stop homegrown youngsters from playing.
If a player has played in an FA or FAW academy as kids, they are homegrown.
Otherwise, there would be no point in having an academy. Just sweep up as much good talent at 15, then keep them for 3 years.
{Ed001's Note - he is not homegrown for an English side.}
26 Jun 2026 11:26:55
F2ndP do you ever admit you are wrong? lol.
26 Jun 2026 14:14:27
Haha, it's a fair point. What, buddy? And I wouldn't mind him never accepting it if he wasn't wrong so often. ?
I haven't made the rules up, FP2G. The FA have, and you seem to be missing the fundamental point here. It's about when a player is officially registered for a club, which I suspect can only happen when they sign their first proper contract, which usually happens just before their 16th birthday so as to kick in once they come of age. Hence the rules needing to be from 15-21. Ironically, the one thing you finally got right, you did so by accident. There are, in fact, many clubs that have, and are, massively scaling back their academies because, like you say, for smaller clubs it often doesn't pay for itself.
Look at us, we just bought through a 15-year-old keeper who was supposed to be the best of his generation; only problem is he's gone and signed for Liverpool because that's what happens. Just like we did to Rochdale with Mane.
Also, FYI, I stand by what I said, because outside of youth team footy the guy has never played in a full first team match in England, much less the years you seem to be claiming, despite him signing for Bayern in 2019 (when he was 16).
Yet again, though, I suppose it's everyone else in the wrong, though, eh, just like when we were about to sign Cardoso, you know the 59-year-old scout your mate told you we were signing at FB. ?
26 Jun 2026 15:46:29
It's actually a bigger issue than whether I get something right or wrong.
It shows that clubs don't invest in their academies, as they won't be homegrown.
The big clubs hold on to players for longer periods, then sell, but the development of the player is halted.
Harvey Elliott and McAtee are great examples where they could have been playing more football but were held on to longer than they needed to be for this homegrown rule.
With the rule starting at 15, there is no benefit to having an academy other than if you are a big club for pure profit.
{Ed001's Note - Elliott? You are wrong again. Elliott was at Fulham and had the choice to go pretty much anywhere, was offered a deal at Real Madrid for instance, but chose Liverpool because he is a fan of the club. Klopp loved him and has said since leaving that one of his biggest regrets is not using Elliott more, which is in part due to a couple of major injuries he suffered. It was nothing to do with homegrown rules, Klopp wanted to keep him and he wanted to stay. The issue is more that it encourages a trade in children, in order to get them into clubs before the age of 18, so they can become homegrown.}
26 Jun 2026 16:44:53
Speaking of Harvey Elliott, I can't believe that lad has sat out almost a whole EPL season, but the way Villa have done it, you can't fault the manager's decisions. Surely that's going to affect his future? Unless, of course, he has been on loan and I never noticed. I don't keep up too much these days. It gives me a headache.
26 Jun 2026 15:35:56
Ed - do you have any clarity on this?
My research is not conclusive.
As 2ndgen says he did play for some 5 years for Chelsea before he was 21 so in theory he is "homegrown" and some sites do indeed state that he is.
However other sites, as BB identifies, say that only years after the age of 15 count and he played for Chelsea from 11 to 16 i.e. only 1 year after 15 and so he does not qualify?
{Ed001's Note - I have already said, it is between the ages of 15-21 so Bellingham would not be homegrown: "UEFA defines locally-trained or 'homegrown' players as those who, regardless of their nationality, have been trained by their club or by another club in the same national association for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21." That is the sentence from the UEFA regs.}
26 Jun 2026 19:16:08
Well, it's defo been an interesting debate, gents, but regardless of that I still don't think we have a cat in hell's chance of signing Arrey Mbi, sadly. I would love to be wrong, but he seems to be well rated by a number of far bigger clubs. ?
26 Jun 2026 22:26:39
Apologies Ed. Resent the post as i thought I had pressed the wrong button (you do things like that at my age) and thus not sent the first one
Appreciate your response.
{Ed001's Note - no worries.}