The size of Chelsea's squad has been well-documented since January. The Blues had to remove Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from their Champions League selection while Benoit Badisahile, Noni Madueke and David Datro Fofana also had to sit on the sideliness.
Such is the scale of the west London side's numbers, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard were also tasked with leaving players out of the Premier League matchday squads and faced with questions in press conference to uncover who was injured or simply not selected.
The end of the season will see some slight pressure relieved with the departures of loan players in Denis Zakaria and Joao Felix, but as with most seasons, the Blues welcome back a hefty loan army too.
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Much to Chelsea displeasure, as 12th-placed finish means that they will not be confined by the restrictions of the Champions League for the next 12 months but they will still be required to fulfill the Premier League's criteria.
Mauricio Pochettino will be able to have a squad of 25 players with no more than 17 of those who do not qualify as a home-grown player.
The Premier League state that a home-grown player is 'a player who, irrespective of nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to The Football Association or the Football Association of Wales 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)'.
Any players under 21 are eligible over the limit of 25 players. For 2022/23 players were classed as under-21 if they were born on or after January 1st 2001, presumably for 2023/24 that will be from the same date in 2002.
The Blues' production line from Cobham sees them face little pressure on the homegrown front but do count a group of 31 senior players. It is likely that more than six of those players may not be at Stamford Bridge come the start of next season but Chelsea will need to go further if they want to add players over the age of 21 in the transfer market.
Pochettino will see the likes of Enzo Fernández, Benoit Badiashile, and Mykhailo Mudryk, who all could be counted as under-21 last term, now be classed among the non-homegrown ranks in addition to Armando Broja who will now take a senior slot.
Players eligible to take a homegrown slot (13)
Marcus Bettinelli, Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher, Raheem Sterling, Armando Broja, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ethan Ampadu, Romelu Lukaku, Tino Anjorin.
Players who would need to take one of 17 non-homegrown (18)
Kepa Arrizabalaga, Edouard Mendy, Cesar Azpilicueta, Benoit Badisahile, Thiago SIlva, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Enzo Fernandez, N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Christian Pulisic, Mykhailo Mudryk, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Malang Sarr, Baba Rahman.
A selection of players who will still be classed as under-21
Gabriel Slonina, Carney Chukwuemeka, Lewis Hall, Noni Madueke, David Datro Fofana, Ian Maatsen, Levi Colwill, Andrey Santos.
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