Telecom reported that Thomas Frank is facing the Champions League lineup problem and Tottenham's transfer market needs to be broken through.
Tottenham players have begun to return to preseason training, and the new head coach Frank has also begun to work. The team hopes to sign West Ham's Kudus to enhance their strength. Frank and Tottenham are facing a tough problem: They may need to submit a shrinking Champions League A roster and even have to exclude some senior players.
The club has discussed the possibility of introducing former Tottenham defender Kyle Walker because his joining can increase the number of players in the team's local training. However, it seems that the deal is unlikely to be achieved at the moment. According to regulations, each Champions League team can register 25 players, of which 8 must be local trained players. Among these 8 local players, up to 4 can be "association-trained" players, and the other 4 must be players trained by the club itself. If a team has fewer than 8 local players, the maximum number of A-list players will also be reduced accordingly.
At present, Tottenham has 24 non-local trained players. If another non-club trained player is introduced this summer, such as Kudus, it is almost certain that at least one player will need to be sold to balance the lineup.
Frank's most troublesome problem at the moment is that the associations in the team train players and the club train players. The players trained by the club are players who have played for three consecutive seasons at Tottenham between the ages of 15 and 21. Currently, only third goalkeeper Brandon Austin meets this condition. Walker Peters joined Tottenham's academy in 2013 and played for Tottenham for seven years before moving to Southampton. He is also considered a player trained by the club. Sunderland left-back Dennis Silkin is also rumored to be back to Tottenham, and he also meets the club's standards for developing players. The players trained by the association are players who have played for three consecutive seasons at another club registered with the England or Wales Football Association between the ages of 15 and 21. Tottenham has seven such players, namely Solank, Madison, Brennan Johnson, Ben Davis, Archie Gray, Jed Spence and Ashley Phillips.
In 2018, then-head coach Pochettino criticized Tottenham's signing policy for being forced to exclude Juan Voith, Nkudu and Vincent Jansen from the Champions League roster. Last season, Postkoglu had to adjust his UEFA Europa League roster. He excluded Jed Spence in the league stage and then added the fullback and Kevin Densor and Mattis Terr, who were signed in January, to the roster in the knockout stage. Fraser Foster, Werner and injured Dragusin were removed from the list.
Tottenham can supplement their Champions League roster players who must be born on or after January 1, 2004 and have been playing for the club for at least two consecutive years since their 15th birthday, or for a total of three consecutive years. If Tottenham puts a 22-man A-list, players like forward Dan Scallit and midfielder Jamie Donley (who was loaned to Leiden East last season) and Alfie Dwyne could be put on the B-list. Solomon is one of the non-local training players currently facing being excluded from Tottenham's Champions League roster. The winger was loaned to the Championship team Leeds United last season, but he has returned from Israel in time to participate in pre-season training for Tottenham.