A midfield overhaul is on the cards for Arsenal this summer.
In fact, if the necessary deals are completed before the transfer window closes at the beginning of September then it will leave captain Martin Odegaard as the sole survivor from what many have considered to be the Gunners' best midfield trio over the past couple of seasons.
This is because football.london understands Granit Xhaka is expected to join Bayer Leverkusen in a £13 million deal, whilst Thomas Partey could follow him through the Emirates Stadium exit door as CBS Sports claim that Al Nassr, Al Ahli and Khaleej are all keen on taking the Ghana international to Saudi Arabia.
With regards to the former, Arsenal have already identified Declan Rice as his replacement and despite seeing two bids rejected for the England international there's an understanding that they'll do all they can to strike an agreement for Mikel Arteta's priority summer signing.
As for Partey, it's emerged that Southampton youngster Romeo Lavia is being earmarked for a switch to N5 - for a fee potentially in the region of £50m following the Saints' relegation to the Championship - in the scenario that sees the Gunners' number five depart.
Should both deals get completed before deadline day, how would Lavia's arrival affect the north London outfit in terms of bringing in more players amid links to the likes of Rice, Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz whilst adhering to the Premier League rules at the same time?
Well, as per Premier League rules: "An Under 21 player is defined as one who is under the age of 21 on 1st January in the year in which the season commences,". This means for the upcoming 2023/24 campaign, Under-21 players will have been born on or after 1 January 2002.
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And with 'under-21 players are eligible over and above the limit of 25 players per squad' because Lavia was born on 6 January 2004, if he was to join Arsenal before the current transfer window closes, he wouldn't have to be registered in their Premier League squad when it's submitted in September.
Furthermore, with regard to the Champions League, the teenager doesn't quite meet the criteria to be named on List B as he wouldn't have been at the club long enough, but UEFA rules suggest he would be classed as an "association-trained player" on List A having been registered with Manchester City and Southampton for three continuous seasons before turning 21.
If that is the case then it should ensure Arsenal have no issues when it comes to staying within the limit of 17 players considered non-homegrown in Europe's elite club competition. Of course, it remains to be seen what the final submitted lists will look like come September as it all depends on what business gets done during the summer
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