City’s Juggling Act with Squad Rules…
Manchester City is playing a new game of Twister with squad rules now that the transfer window is closed. They need to submit a 25-man list to both UEFA and the Premier League, and it’s more complex than solving a Rubik’s Cube while blindfolded! Only 17 non-homegrown players can squeeze in, making room for eight homegrown gems. The trick is that UEFA wants four to have been raised in the City nursery, while the Premier League just wants them to have a British accent by age 21.
The Premier League’s under-21 players are the lucky ones, getting a free pass unless they’re asked by UEFA, which seems to want them to provide two years of club loyalty and bake cookies for the team’s bus driver every Sunday. Unfortunately for Ilkay Gundogan, who could be off to Galatasaray, and Stefan Ortega, still with his suitcase packed at the Etihad, decisions loom faster than a toddler chasing an ice cream truck. Meanwhile, Kalvin Phillips might just be stuck warming a bench so cold it’s probably selling snow cones in the winter!
