Wolves and the Homegrown Rule: A Balancing Act

Is it the Premier League’s homegrown players quota that is proving itself to be the real issue for Wolves in terms of recruitment this summer?

This is something that has perhaps slipped under the radar for a lot of fans – I know, I myself hadn’t given it much thought.

BUT there is plenty of evidence to suggest this might be right at the heart of our current issues.

As per Premier League rules, we can only name 17 non-homegrown players over 21 in our final 25-man PL squad.

It seems moving Guedes, Podence, Silva, and possibly even Chiquinho out on the most favourable terms is proving to be harder than expected.

Not only are the above names potential squad players if they stay, but if they are named in the PL 25 man squad (so they can actually be squad players) they would eat up at those precious 17 non-homegrown places. 

So if we sign someone non-homegrown in the meantime, and one of the above are, as a consequence, not named -and aren’t sold- they’re sat collecting a pay packet while contributing absolutely nothing. 

There’s still the option to loan out abroad at a later stage – but Wolves are on the back foot in cases like this, as most deals would involve a significant wage contribution from the club. This option is still however the lesser of two evils; pay 100% of wages for nothing, or pay 50% of wages, equally, for nothing. Any clubs interested in these players know the deal here. So this is obviously something Wolves want to avoid.

Therefore, the safest option (without knowing how the exact shape of the squad will look come September) is to recruit homegrown players – hence the links to Dara O’Shea and Aaron Ramsdale – but ultimately the market is limited and expensive. 

Alternatively, U21s are also an option -hence the links to Carlos Forbs, 20 and Bastien Meupiyou, 18 – due to there being no limit on U21s.

This perhaps sheds some light on what we’re seeing from Wolves in the transfer market this summer – especially in terms of who we’ve been linked with recently. 

Furthermore, clubs are prepared to leave it as late as possible to get the best price. It’s thought Wolves even have an algorithm advising them of the optimum time to buy. 

The homegrown element really does go some way in explaining why so many links seem to be stalling for Wolves at the moment. 

It seems, as ever, it’s financial caution first in what is admittedly a difficult market; not helped by our own lack of foresight in ensuring the balance of the squad is right, and able to comfortably meet Premier League rules and regulations.