It's been a busy week in the Premier League transfer window - which has meant lots of your questions for our experts to answer. Here are some of the best submissions answered. Question: Why do/can some teams decide not to disclose the transfer fee?
Andrew, New Forest Answer: Undisclosed transfer fees are really just a way of clubs keeping their cards close to their chest. It means rivals do not know how much of their transfer budget Team A have spent, nor do they now how much Team B have to re-invest in a replacement player. It all seems quite pointless in the modern era, where we generally get to hear about most transfer fees through agents or other sources.
Then there are the deals done with overseas clubs which are listed on the stock market, such as by Lyon and Juventus. A Premier League club might list a deal as undisclosed, then the other club has to tell the stock market the exact fee and any variables. There's even less point in the English club holding back the details of the deal, but they still do.
Question: What makes a homegrown player? Answer: A homegrown player is a player who, regardless of their nationality or age, has been affiliated with any English or Welsh club for a period of three entire seasons or 36 months before their 21st birthday. The same rules apply to players who have three seasons or 36 months as a registered player prior to the end of the season in which that player turns 21.
An example of this is Chelsea's Brazilian striker Joao Pedro. The 23-year-old, born in Sao Paulo, joined Watford in January 2020 aged 18. The regulations differ to Uefa's rules on homegrown players for its competitions.
The qualifying period for a player only counts between the ages of 15 and 21, whereas the Premier League's starting age is much younger. Question: The homegrown rule works the opposite too, right? Eric Dier was not considered a homegrown player in the Spurs squad as he completed his education in Portugal.
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