Special Premier League rules to benefit Arsenal as Mikel Arteta can now do something rarely seen

Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke and Bukayo Saka are all part of Arsenal's first team squad and the England national side (Image: Eddie Keogh - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

One of the major evolutions seen at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta’s management has been the way in which the squad has been built. When Arteta inherited the squad in 2019 from Unai Emery, the team had eight homegrown players in the senior squad , six of whom had played at academy level for the Gunners.

Both Rob Holding and Calum Chambers had been signed at a young age from English clubs. While Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson, Bukayo Saka and Hector Bellerin were promoted from the youth teams.

Bellerin, despite being a Spain international, counted toward the club’s quota of homegrown players. This is due to a ruling by the Premier League, which allows foreign stars to gain the status based on their time with their English clubs.

According to the Premier League website: “A 'Home Grown Player' means 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).

“A club’s Under-21 players are not included on the 25-man squad lists. These players are also eligible to play in the Premier League.”

Much has changed since 2019, and now Arsenal have spent huge sums on homegrown talent. Gabriel Martinelli was also in the group when Arteta came in but had not yet earned the homegrown status. Due to his young age, he would not be counted in the club’s non-homegrown quota.

The roughly £5million spent on the Brazilian, however, is dwarfed by fees for the present crop of homegrown talent. £30million in total was spent on Spain international David Raya, who gained homegrown status during his time with Blackburn Rovers as a teenager.

£50million spent on Ben White, £52million on Noni Madueke, £105million on Declan Rice and now £67.5million on Eberechi Eze. £274.5million on four England international players who have been joined in the senior Three Lions squad by the aforementioned Saka and also Myles Lewis-Skelly, who has come through the club’s academy.

Ethan Nwaneri has since represented the under-21s, too, while the club is excited about 15-year-olds Max Dowman and Marli Salmon. Dowman made his Premier League debut in the 5-0 win over Leeds United, winning a penalty.

William Saliba may have spent several seasons away from the club on loan, but he, too, gained homegrown status, having been at Arsenal since he was 18, signing with the side in 2019. Like Martinelli and Raya, his homegrown status means, if Arteta wanted to, he could field quite the side of exclusively homegrown players.

Madueke initially did not count toward the club’s homegrown quota. However, the Premier League changed his status, which they can do on a case-by-case basis, and following a review, his seven years with FA-affiliated academies have granted him the exception despite playing in the Netherlands from the age of 16.

Tom Canton’s homegrown Arsenal XI – Raya; White, Saliba, Salmon, Lewis-Skelly; Rice, Nwaneri, Eze, Saka, Madueke, Martinelli