A closer look at the Championship squad rules and how Birmingham City will be affected
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies
The summer transfer window has shut and Birmingham City will now have to submit their squad to the EFL ahead of the next round of fixtures.
Blues signed 12 new players in total, including deadline day arrivals Patrick Roberts and Jack Robinson, to build a squad they hope will challenge for promotion.
They were able to offload some of their fringe players in the final hours of the window, too. George Hall transferred to Port Vale, while Alfie Chang, Tyler Roberts and Taylor Gardner-Hickman all completed loan moves away from St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park.
Chris Davies’ job has been made easier but he will still have to leave at least one senior player out of his squad.
Championship clubs are allowed to keep 25-man squads that must include at least eight homegrown players.
Whilst Blues won’t have any issues adhering to the quota of homegrown players, with no fewer than 16 members of the squad developed in England – including Austrian defender Christoph Klarer – they do have 26 senior players on their books.
Blues didn’t have to name Fulham loanee Luke Harris in their squad last season because he was under 21 but loan players have to be included in Championship squads.
James Beadle and Lewis Koumas will therefore take up places in the squad, despite both being 21 or under.
As things stand, at least one player will have to be omitted from the squad Blues submit to the EFL. Lee Buchanan and Scott Wright appear to be the obvious choices for Davies given that they are both still some way from returning from serious knee injuries.
Buchanan has been sidelined for eight months now and Wright has been out for six. Davies could always leave both players out in order to leave room to register a free agent in an emergency.
Alfons Sampsted stayed at Blues on deadline day and will provide cover at left-back until Buchanan is fit to return.
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Players from last season who will have to be registered:
Ryan Allsop*
Ethan Laird*
Alfons Sampsted
Christoph Klarer*
Alex Cochrane*
Lee Buchanan*
Tomoki Iwata
Paik Seung-ho
Marc Leonard*
Willum Willumsson
Keshi Anderson*
Scott Wright
Lyndon Dykes
Jay Stansfield*
New signings who need to be registered:
Phil Neumann
James Beadle*
Tommy Doyle*
Demarai Gray*
Bright Osayi-Samuel*
Kyogo Furuhashi
Kanya Fujimoto
Eiran Cashin*
Marvin Ducksch
Lewis Koumas*
Patrick Roberts*
Jack Robinson*
*Signifies that the player is homegrown.
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