Premier League squad rules: homegrown, U21s and UEFA lists

Premier League squad rules decide who can play in the English top flight and who is left watching. Every club submits a list after each transfer window, with a maximum of 25 players and no more than 17 who are not homegrown, while under-21s play without taking up a place. English clubs in European competition also face a second test: UEFA's List A and List B, with different quotas, a different way of counting where players were trained, and different deadlines. In this guide, based on the regulations in force in September 2026, we explain what counts as a homegrown player, where the under-21 cut-off sits for 2026-27, when lists can be changed, what happens to the players left out and what has changed over the last two seasons.

What the 25-player rule says

The rule has applied since the 2010-11 season and its logic is simple. Each list can include no more than 25 players, and no more than 17 of them can fail the homegrown criteria. The rest, up to the total of 25, must be homegrown. That is why a full list needs at least eight homegrown players. If a club only has six, the ceiling drops: 17 plus 6 makes 23. The 25 is a ceiling, and a club with few homegrown players simply registers fewer. These are the figures for 2026-27:

• A maximum of 25 players on the Premier League list.
• A maximum of 17 players who are not homegrown.
• Under-21s sit outside the list and are eligible on top of the 25: for 2026-27, that means players born on or after 1 January 2005.
• Submission after each window: the summer window shut at 23:00 BST on 1 September 2026, and the winter window will run from 1 January to 1 February 2027.

Who counts as a homegrown player

The Premier League definition ignores passports. A homegrown player is one who, irrespective of nationality or age, has been registered with clubs affiliated to The Football Association, in England, or the Football Association of Wales for three entire seasons or 36 months, continuous or not, before his 21st birthday or the end of the season in which he turns 21. In other words, a Brazilian or French player who joined an English academy as a teenager can count as homegrown, while an English player trained abroad may not.

Two details matter for what follows. First, because the requirement is completed before a player turns 21, the status stays with him for the rest of his career, even if he changes clubs. Second, the definition published by the Premier League sets no starting age for counting those three seasons, whereas UEFA only counts from the season in which a player turns 15. That difference explains some striking cases we will look at below.

The under-21 exemption and its cut-off date

Under-21s are not included on the 25-man list and are still eligible to play in the Premier League. The category does not depend on how old a player is on matchday but on his date of birth: for 2026-27, under-21s are those born on or after 1 January 2005. The line moves forward one year each season. In 2025-26 the cut-off was 1 January 2004, and in 2024-25 it was 1 January 2003.

That is why a player who has already turned 21 can still count as an under-21 for the whole season. Kobbie Mainoo, born on 19 April 2005, does not appear on Manchester United's 25-man list for 2026-27 and remains eligible to play, as Sports Illustrated and Goal explained when the lists came out. The same goes for an 18-year-old signed this summer: in the Premier League the date of birth is what counts, not how long he has been at the club. In Europe, as we will see, the sum is different.

When lists are submitted and when they can change

Lists are submitted when each transfer window closes. The summer 2026 window opened on 15 June and shut at 23:00 BST on 1 September, and the Premier League published all 20 lists on 3 September. According to the league's own guidance, changes to the list may be made during a transfer window, so the next ordinary opportunity comes in January: the winter window opens on 1 January 2027 and closes on 1 February at 23:00 GMT. When it shuts, clubs submit their updated lists again, as happened after the window that ended on 2 February 2026.

There is also a safety valve for goalkeeping emergencies. The Premier League's transfer guide explains that, in exceptional circumstances and with the permission of the league's Board, a club can bring in a goalkeeper on loan outside the window. It is not an automatic right: without that authorisation, there is no signing.

What happens to the players left out

A player who is no longer an under-21 and is not on the list cannot play in Premier League matches until his club adds him in a later window. He is still under contract with his club, and he can move to a country whose window remains open. It is also a league list: in September 2026 Tottenham left Richarlison out of their 25-man list, and ESPN pointed out that the forward remains eligible to play in the Carabao Cup.

UEFA's List A and List B

In the Champions League, the Europa League and the Conference League the system is different. Each club submits two lists: List A, the main squad, which has a ceiling, and List B, reserved for young players with some time at the club and with no limit on numbers. These are the figures in the 2026-27 regulations:

• List A: a maximum of 25 players, with at least eight places reserved for locally trained players, no more than four of which can go to association-trained players.
• Goalkeepers: at least two on List A and at least three across Lists A and B combined.
• List B: no limit, for players born on or after 1 January 2005 who, since their 15th birthday, have been eligible to play for the club for two uninterrupted years, or for three consecutive years with no more than one loan of up to a year to a club from the same association.
• Deadlines: List A for the league phase had to be submitted by 23:59 CEST on 2 September 2026, and List B can be submitted up to 23:59 Central European time on the day before each match.

Club-trained and association-trained players

UEFA distinguishes two kinds of locally trained player. A club-trained player has been registered with his current club for three entire seasons or 36 months, continuous or not, between the age of 15 (or the start of the season in which he turns 15) and 21 (or the end of the season in which he turns 21). An association-trained player meets the same requirement, but with one or more clubs from the same association as his current club, which for an English club means The FA. If a team has fewer than eight locally trained players on List A, its limit of 25 is reduced accordingly.

The catch lies in the combination. A club with only two club-trained players cannot make up for it with more than four association-trained players: it fills six of the eight reserved places and its List A stops at 23. And because club-trained status only applies at the club where it was earned, a club-trained player who moves to another English club counts there as association-trained.

Changes allowed during the European season

For the league phase, List A is effectively locked. The main exceptions are these. If a goalkeeper suffers an injury or illness lasting at least 30 days, the club can replace him temporarily at any point in the season, and the replacement does not need to be locally trained. Since September 2025 there has been something similar for outfield players: up to and including matchday 6 of the league phase, a club can temporarily replace a single player with an injury or illness lasting at least 60 days, provided the replacement was already registered with the club before the List A deadline and the locally trained quotas are respected. And in the Champions League, any club that reaches the knockout phase can register up to three new players by 23:59 CET on 4 February 2027, even if they have already played in UEFA competition for another club that season.

That is why missing out on List A hurts so much. In September 2026 Liverpool left Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo out of their Champions League list, and ESPN noted that they will be unavailable for the league phase unless the club can make a permitted change, normally injury-related.

How English clubs juggle both lists

The calendar is a challenge in itself. The English window shut at 23:00 BST on 1 September, and UEFA's List A deadline expired at 23:59 CEST on 2 September. Barely a day after the last signings, clubs with European matches also had to close their UEFA list, under different rules. The underlying differences are three:

• Training: the Premier League counts clubs affiliated to the English and Welsh associations and its published definition sets no starting age; UEFA only counts from the season in which a player turns 15 and only clubs from the same association. BBC Sport cited Arsenal's Noni Madueke, recognised as homegrown in the UK but not by UEFA; Madueke came through the academies of Crystal Palace and Tottenham before joining PSV Eindhoven in 2018.
• Age: the 1 January 2005 cut-off is the same for Premier League under-21s and for List B, but UEFA also demands time at the club, so a youngster signed this summer plays in the league without using a place and needs a List A spot in Europe.
• Club-trained players: the Premier League does not distinguish between club-trained and association-trained players; UEFA does, and a club needs at least four club-trained players to register a full List A of 25.

There is, however, a useful parallel. On both lists, the ceiling for players who do not meet the training criteria is 17: in the Premier League they are the 17 non-homegrown players, and on List A they are the 25 places minus the eight reserved ones. The difference lies in who can fill the other eight.

What changed in 2025-26 and 2026-27

In the Premier League, nothing of substance. The published rules for 2026-27 repeat those of 2025-26: a maximum of 25 players, no more than 17 who are not homegrown and under-21s outside the list. The only thing that moved was the cut-off date, from 1 January 2004 to 1 January 2005.

At UEFA, the 25-player ceiling on List A and the eight places for locally trained players are unchanged, and List B also moved its date, from 1 January 2004 to 1 January 2005. The Champions League knockout phase still allows three new registrations: the deadline was 5 February 2026 last season and will be 4 February 2027 this time. The real change arrived with the 2025-26 season already under way: UEFA's Executive Committee, meeting in Tirana on 11 September 2025, approved with immediate effect the temporary replacement of an outfield player with a long-term injury or illness, something previously allowed only for goalkeepers. The rule remains in the 2026-27 regulations.

Simulate matches and the Premier League season

Lists decide who is eligible, but the manager picks the XI. On Fut Simulator Pro you can take that seat with the line-up builder and put together the side you would pick.

Then simulate any fixture with the AI match simulator, in a tactical view or in the physics arena, and export arena matches as vertical video. If you would rather look at the whole campaign, the Premier League simulator plays out the rest of the season from the real table and the real fixture list.

"The 25-man list does not pick the best team: it picks who is allowed to try."

• Line-up builder to put together your XI.
• AI match simulator for any fixture, in a tactical view or a physics arena.
• Vertical video export of arena matches.
• Premier League simulator: play the rest of the season from the real table and the real fixture list.
• Supercomputer page with season projections for the Premier League.
• Carabao Cup page with the 2026/27 rounds and an AI simulation for every tie.

"The Premier League asks where you were trained; UEFA also asks at what age and at which club."