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Football London
Football London
Sport
Rob Guest

Adama Traore's homegrown situation explained ahead of Tottenham January transfer from Wolves

Time is starting to run out for Tottenham in the winter market as next Monday's transfer deadline edges ever closer.

An important window for the club following Antonio Conte's arrival at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the start of November, Spurs have so far not brought a single player through the door despite having three priority positions to fill.

A new right wing-back, central midfielder and striker are on Fabio Paratici's list as he looks to boost the head coach's squad ahead of a big end to the season with Champions League football up for grabs.

In terms of the right wing-back position, Wolves man Adama Traore appears on course to finally get his move to the club amid talk of a switch to Spurs prior to the summer transfer deadline.

As reported by football.london last week, talks have been continuing between the two clubs and there is a confidence that the deal will eventually be concluded for Traore, who did appear to be saying his goodbyes after Wolves' game against Brentford on Saturday.

One thing that Tottenham have had to balance in recent years regarding transfer incomings has been the non-homegrown player numbers.

This has been problematic for Spurs in Europe previously having had over the 17-player limit, although a difference between UEFA and Premier League rules has complicated matters for the club.

Clubs must also leave sufficient space for homegrown players in their squads, with eight places in the 25-man party reserved for them.

A homegrown player in the Premier League is a player of any nationality that has spent at least three seasons training at a professional English or Welsh club before the age of 21.

Now with 13 non-homegrown players from a possible 17 in their Premier League squad, Tottenham do have plenty of room to bring in foreign players without surpassing the limit.

Moving to Aston Villa ahead of the 2015/16 season and having been in the country for six-and-a-half years now, fans will be keen to know Traore's status having coming through Barcelona's system as a youngster.

Despite spending the vast majority of his career in England after departing Barcelona in 2015, Traore is not classed as a homegrown player as he was 19 when he joined Aston Villa, meaning it wouldn't be possible for him to complete the required three years needed.

If, as expected, Traore does sign on the dotted line before the January transfer deadline, the Spain international will take up one of the non-homegrown player spots at Tottenham.

The Lilywhites do have three spaces up for grabs in their 25-man Premier League squad, all of which can be filled by foreign players.

There is even space for another non-homegrown player to come in but that would likely come at the cost of academy defender Tobi Omole, who was registered as one of nine homegrown players even though only eight are required.

Potential departures for 2019 arrivals Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso would free up another two non-homegrown player spots providing that they move on elsewhere before deadline day.

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