There could be a surprise inclusion in Arsenal's Premier League squad when it's made official.
Following the closure of the summer transfer window, the Gunners will soon be permitted to name a 25-man squad for the top-flight of English football from which no more than 17 overseas players can be named, with the remaining eight places available to home-grown members of the squad.
However, as Arsenal allowed Bernd Leno, Lucas Torreira, Nuno Tavares, Pablo Mari, Runar Alex Runarsson and Alexandre Lacazette to leave one way or another before deadline day, it means they only have 13 overseas players, which in turn increases the slots available to home-grown members of the squad.
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In addition, it should be noted that Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, Marquinhos and Gabriel Martinelli aren't included in either list for the Premier League because they are born after January 1st 2001, which makes them eligible to be registered as Under-21 players.
To be considered home-grown, players need to have been registered with any club affiliated to The Football Association or the Welsh FA for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons, or 36 months, before his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).
Right now, Arsenal have six senior players who currently meet the home-grown criteria in Ben White, Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Rob Holding, Aaron Ramsdale and Reiss Nelson. This is after Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Hector Bellerin departed for Southampton on loan and Barcelona respectively on deadline day.
Although, manager Mikel Arteta could dip into the academy to boost the number by one as Matt Smith, somewhat of a forgotten man at the club, is in line to be a surprise inclusion. In fact, given that he is born on October 5th 2000, which is before January 1st 2001, he must be registered as a home-grown player otherwise he will be ineligible for the competition.
What makes this interesting, and perhaps effectively 'confirms' the 21-year-old's place in the squad is the fact he has already been named in the Gunners' A-list for this season's Europa League as he qualifies as a "locally trained" player alongside Smith Rowe and Nketiah.
Smith has been around the first-team picture intermittently since the second half of the 2019/2020 season. Named on the bench for a Premier League win over Southampton, he then earned a FA Cup winner's medal for the Gunners' victory over Chelsea.
The last couple of seasons have seen the midfielder enjoy three loan spells in League One with Swindon Town, Charlton Athletic and most recently Doncaster Rovers before returning to Arsenal in the summer where he featured in a 5-1 pre-season friendly win over Ipswich Town and travelled to Germany for a mini-training camp.
Having been linked with a move to Championship pair Milwall and Luton Town during the summer transfer window, the fact that Smith didn't leave - combined with his age and registration rules - indicates he could be a surprise name in Arteta's plans to provide an extra option in midfield.
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