Freddie Woodman emerged as such an appealing possible signing for Liverpool due to his standing as a homegrown player.

Woodman is joining the Reds on a free transfer, and he will provide cover for Alisson and Giorgi Mamardashvili in the goalkeeping position following the departures of Caoimhin Kelleher, Vitezslav Jaros and Harvey Davies.

Kelleher left the club permanently earlier this month to join Brentford, while Jaros and Davies are spending the 2025-26 season on loan at Ajax and Crawley Town, respectively.

Premier League clubs are only allowed to register a maximum of 17 non-homegrown players in their squads, and the same rule also applies in the UEFA Champions League.

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The Reds started this season with 15 non-homegrown players in their squad, and that number, as things stand, will increase to 17 following the acquisitions of Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz; Jeremie Frimpong classes as a homegrown player having spent several years in Manchester City's academy when he was growing up.

England and Crystal Palace center-back Marc Guehi, another player that Liverpool is interested in, would also be classed as a homegrown player after coming through Chelsea's academy.

If Liverpool wants to sign any more non-homegrown players, the club will have to offload an existing non-homegrown player from the squad to make extra space.

Given there is no wiggle room in that area, it would have made little sense for Liverpool to sign a third-choice goalkeeper who did not qualify as a homegrown player, considering there is a significant chance that he will not play in any games in the Premier League or Champions League next season.



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