It was another summer of unprecedented spending in the Premier League as the cash-laden English top-flight outspent the rest of Europe’s premier divisions by an utterly ludicrous margin.
While clubs across the continent are still reeling from the financial effects of Covid-19, those in the Premier League have barely batted an eyelid.
The 20 clubs combined to spend a record £2.44bn this summer, topping the previous summer’s £1.92bn outlay. The finances involved are just obscene, yet still some clubs continue to struggle on the squad building front which sparks a vicious cycle of seemingly perpetual spending sprees.
Nevertheless, the transfer window is closed for business until the winter, yet Premier League clubs still have some time until their final squads for the 2023/24 campaign are submitted. The 7 September Saudi Pro League transfer deadline means there could be some alterations before the squad submission date arrives.
While all 20 Premier League clubs will now have a pretty good idea of how their squad will shape up this season, there’s a pretty strong chance the Saudi Pro League attempts to bring about further disruption before their summer transfer window draws to a close.
Nevertheless, the squad submission date for 2023/24 is Wednesday 13 September, with clubs having to submit their squads by 14:00 (BST) on this date.
There are several quotas that must be fulfilled in regard to squad submissions. Crucially, there can be no more than 17 non-‘homegrown’ players on the list which means that eight players in the squad must’ve played for an English club for at least three years before the age of 21 – nationality is irrelevant.
For example, despite representing Spain, David Raya is considered ‘homegrown’ as he joined Blackburn Rovers as a 16-year-old and has played in England since.
Teams can also name players that are under-21 on a separate Under-21 list which frees up more space for senior players in the 25-man squad. For the current campaign, players have to be born before 1 January 2002 to be considered an under-21.
