Antonio Conte's Tottenham squad will look rather different come the start of the 2022/23 Premier League season with a number of incomings and outgoings expected to take place in N17. Managing director of football Fabio Paratici was very busy 12 months ago bringing in some fresh faces and moving on some experienced players to give the Spurs squad a much-needed refresh.
However, it was clear to see a few months into the campaign that the Lilywhites still had plenty more to do in the transfer market. Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski duly followed from Juventus on the final day of the January transfer window, both having a major role in transforming the team and securing a Champions League place for next term.
Adding some more experience to the ranks is going to be vital to Tottenham carrying on their recent progression, with the pending arrival of Ivan Perisic on a free transfer hopefully going to help Spurs hit the next level. As more are set to follow, Tottenham's squad for next campaign could look a lot different to the one that finished the season with a 5-0 triumph away at Norwich City.
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Once the summer transfer window comes to a close on Thursday, September 1, Premier League teams will, as ever, need to submit a 25-man playing squad for the season. Rules state that no more than 17 overseas players can be named as part of the squad, with the remaining eight places available to homegrown players.
Teams also name a separate Under-21s list for the season, which in turn does free up gaps in the 25-man squad for many clubs as Under-21 players don't have to be included on the main list. Following the closure of the January transfer market, Tottenham had five spare places in their 25-man squad after only submitting 20 names (12 non-homegrown, eight homegrown), with players such as Ryan Sessegnon, Oliver Skipp and Kulusevski not included and instead down on the U21 list.
This is because, as per Premier League rules: "An Under 21 player is defined as one who is under the age of 21 on 1st January in the year in which the season commences. Under-21 players are eligible over and above the limit of 25 players per squad. For the 2021/22 campaign, Under-21 players will have been born on or after 1 January 2000."
For the 2022/23 campaign, Under-21 players will have had to be born on or after 1 January 2001, thus meaning Sessegnon, Skipp and Kulusevski can no longer be included on the Under-21 list due to their respective birthdates as they are all before the aforementioned date. The trio will instead have to be named as part of Tottenham's 25-man party and that will give Conte and Paratici a few decisions to make as a result given the potential incomings.
Skipp and Sessegnon will help Tottenham out in terms of their homegrown numbers, especially as players such as Joe Rodon and Harry Winks could be on the move - either on loan or permanently. Kulusevski will then be added to the non-homegrown list, something which has given the club plenty of headaches in the past due to the different rules in both the Premier League and European competition.
While Spurs do appear to be in a good position in terms of non-homegrown numbers in the league after only naming 12 in their 20-man Premier League squad in February, it's their squad for the Champions League where issues may arise as Rodon, Ben Davies and Matt Doherty do not qualify as locally trained in European competition but they do when it comes to the Premier League.
