Why Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham can avoid naming Destiny Udogie in 23/24 Premier League squad

Destiny Udogie will join up with his Tottenham teammates for the first time this summer after immediately returning to Udinese following his £15m transfer to Spurs last August

The long wait to watch Destiny Udogie make his first appearance in a Tottenham shirt is almost over. Signed in a deal worth £15 million last August, the Italy Under-21 international headed straight back to Udinese on loan for the remainder of the campaign.

One thing that Postecoglou and the club will have to do for the 2023/24 season is submit a 25-man squad to the Premier League following the closure of the summer transfer window. As is always the case, clubs cannot name more than 17 non-homegrown players on the list and the remainder of the squad, up to a total of 25 players, must be homegrown.

The Premier League define a homegrown player as "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)".

All teams are able to name players 21 and under on a separate under-21 list, which frees up space in the 25-man squad in the process, and that allows them to still play for their club despite the fact they are not on the main list of 25. For the 2023/24 campaign, under-21 players will have have had to be born on or after 1 January 2002.

Despite not featuring for Tottenham last season, Udogie was still named on the club's under-21 list even though he was playing his football for Udinese. The same will happen once again this season as he is eligible to be included on the list due to his age as he was born on November 28, 2002.

Tottenham fans could get their first sighting of Udogie in a Spurs shirt during pre-season with games against West Ham, Leicester City and Roma on the agenda as part of the team's summer tour. The Lilywhites will discover their opening day opponents in the Premier League at 9am on Thursday, June 15 when the 2023/24 fixtures are released.

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