In a couple of days, United are going to have to turn in to the Premier League a 25 man roster that they must use until January.  This is a small problem, since United lists 37 players on the "First Team." 

This is all for the purpose of installing the so-called Home Grown Rule, where teams need to have 8 players on their roster that are "home grown."

A home grown player is defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Welsh Football Association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).

Here's who I think we'll most likely see on the roster when it's released:

4. Hargreaves
12. Smalling*
20. Fabio*
21. Rafael*
26. Obertan*
28. Gibson*
30. De Laet
31. C. Evans*
33. Bebe*
35. Cleverley*
42. Eikrem*
44. Dudgeon*
45. Gill*

* - U21.  Players born after 1 January 1989 do not count against 25 man roster and may be used at any time

So, who are our home grown players?  Simple answer: I don't know.  I read somewhere that John O'Shea isn't a home grown player because he wasn't a part of the English or Welsh FA for 3 years prior to his turning 21 (he's Irish).  I think Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Giggs, Scholes and Rooney are all HGP, not sure about J. Evans, Carrick and Owen. 

Note: After writing and posting this, I came across this article (that somehow slipped through my Reader) where SAF addresses this exact topic. From his article:

For Manchester United it’s not a problem, at least for this season, because we have the likes of Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Darren Fletcher, Wes Brown, Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand, John O’Shea, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney.

Who do you think is in or out?  Will Hargreaves make the squad?  Am I completely wrong in how I'm interpreting the rules?  Let me know in the comments below.  Don't have an account? Click here to create an account and join the discussion!