How do the contracts work though because im seeing that Zefi is only allowed sign a contract for a couple of months yet you then get players like David Okagbue who played a full season at Stoke last season.
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How do the contracts work though because im seeing that Zefi is only allowed sign a contract for a couple of months yet you then get players like David Okagbue who played a full season at Stoke last season.
I don't know what age he is but the rules changed on January 1st, 2021, where players had to be 18 before signing a contract there. FIFA would probably prefer to have 18 as the hard and fast rule worldwide but free movement means they're not able to place the same restrictions on people moving between two EU countries.
Caden McLoughlin was part of the Villareal side that won the regional championship: https://villarrealcf.es/en/news/item...wned-champions
This is my basic understanding. You can sign transfer from one EU country to the other once you turn 16. Different countries have different rules regarding signing pro-deals within the EU.
UK clubs can't sign EU players till 18, perhaps with the exception of Irish players due to the common travel area. That was certainly unclear.
In the UK, you've got Academy scholarships, which are almost always 2-year commitments, where the player finishes education with the club and plays for the academy. Those are at u17 and u18, culminating with the FA Youth Cup. 3rd year scholars do exist, but they're very rare. Up to u16, players are only allowed play for a team within a certain distance of where they live, so u17 tends to be an age group where clubs shuffle the deck a lot, because they'll lose players to clubs further afield and they can target players from anywhere in the country. Obviously, there's other stuff which is pretty common, where a family are 'encouraged' to move to an area, making them eligible to sign at u16 or younger, but going by the rules that's the change. In terms of how much time is spent training and how seriously things are taken, u17 is really the big change there, partly because of what we said above and partly because partly because about half of an academy side's players will be released after u16 (because basically two teams are morphing into one at academy level, as in, you've got 14s, 15s, 16s, 18s. So you need half your players to progress at that point to have a full squad). Also till recently, you would have had all the EU players arriving at u17, so they'd take up some academy u17 spots.
As an academy player, you can sign a pro-deal once you turn 17. But it's not uncommon for players to progress without signing a pro deal, because they've basically agreed a commitment for another year anyway. Arsenal and City have had players who progressed without a deal. Jadon Sancho refused a contract at 17 and that ultimately led to him leaving for Dortmund.
There are rules regarding that minimum and maximum length of contracts for young players. I remember Gareth Barry (or possibly Lee Hendry but I'm pretty sure Barry) signed a 7 year contract as a teenager, which might have contributed to the change. There used to be a minimum 2 years on a pro deal or a pro deal renewal under 20, but I'm pretty sure that's now gone and it's now 1 year minimum.
This was clarified a few months ago, the exception only applies to Scottish, Northern Irish, Welsh, and English players: https://www.the42.ie/irish-football-...89379-Dec2020/
There was a bit more to it, Sancho refused to appear at training without guarantees about playing for the first team, so the club decided to sell him.
I heard somewhere that a Irish player could potentially sign for an English club if they are located within 100km of their ground or something like that.
Could be another loophole.
I think that only applies if their family moves to the country for non-footballing reasons. So, say a parent gets a job in the university in Liverpool, their child could sign for Liverpool, Everton, or Tranmere. The difficulty is proving that the move was for non-footballing reasons, and not to sign for the club.
I wonder though, given we have a travel area, could a player’s family freely move to the uk and bypass that ruling in a way that way, in a way another EU citizen couldn’t? Or could I move to live with my London based uncle at 16? There have been a few moves announced which might suggest there’s some form of workaround possible.
I think there was even more to it, in that the club forced him to train alone until he signed and then he stopped showing up, which isn’t really how it’s portrayed today.Quote:
There was a bit more to it, Sancho refused to appear at training without guarantees about playing for the first team, so the club decided to sell him.
He also could have moved for next to nothing due to moving abroad and not having signed a pro deal, but Dortmund were happy to pay £8m (a relative bargain) to avoid a long-drawn out legal situation and to get the deal done, where City accused the player, the agent and club of plenty...
That’s true of land borders anyway. Not sure if it’s 50 or 100 but I guess 100. Basically players can’t sign for clubs within another country below 16/18 (EU/non-EU) - but if you live within 100km of a club, you can play for them even if they cross a national border. That’s how Laporte and Griezmann ended up playing for Basque clubs while living in France (although I think griezmann perhaps involved some creative attending of a boarding school or something).
The law is basically designed so that if you live right on the border, you’re not disadvantaged because of it and barred from playing for a team half an hour down the road from you, just because they cross a border. Really wasn’t designed for trips across the Irish Sea I don’t think - but perhaps the rule is written in such a way that it applies... I’d assume the fact the distance across the Irish Sea is over 100km makes it all moot
And how about the trend of 16 year olds signing professional contracts with LOI clubs. I know pineapple stu partly answered it with the adoption if the LOI underage leagues. But it seems like a big financial undertaking for LOI clubs for players who play minimally for their senior team (Johnny Kenny aside of course)…so assume it allows them to protect their assets a bit better? If a 16 or 17 year old on a professional contract transfers to Europe or UK (vía one of the loopholes), is it still just a developmental fee or can LOI hold out for worthy transfer amounts?
Interview with Kevin Zefi ahead of his move to Inter: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/2...a4004f8c3a9dcc
U15s V Montenegro is being stream on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5I8_koheRM
Jay McEvoy is the younger brother of Rio McEvoy who was in training camps for both us and NI last year. Has three caps for us at U18s level. Jaden Umeh is the younger brother of U19s player Franco Umeh.
Anyone know more about Ramon Martos from Almeria and how he's eligible for us?
Not sure how he’s eligible but read something in Spanish saying he was very good (possibly playing a level above himself and captaining the side at club level?). Here he is here:
https://www.udalmeriasad.com/en/noti...national-teams
And he was mentioned as our biggest threat in the report of the game against Cyprus u15s.
Haven’t seen any of them play a full game but have heard good things about Grady McDonnell (born in Vancouver), Ade Solanke and Brody Lee from Rovers, Jayden Umeh, Michael Noonan and the back up keeper Luke Cullen.