Liverpool will be forced into a decision over the future of Calvin Ramsay this summer due to the right-back no longer meeting Premier League age criteria.
Ramsay joined Liverpool from Aberdeen in 2022, in a deal worth up to £6.5 million, but he has clearly not kicked on as the clubs hoped.
Seriously hampered by injuries, he has instead taken in loan spells with Preston, Bolton, Wigan and most recently Kilmarnock that have seen him play just 26 times combined.
With Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley instead vying for the starting spot at right-back, there is no chance Ramsay is included in Arne Slot‘s first team.
That is magnified by the fact Ramsay is no longer eligible as an under-21 player for 2025/26 and is not qualified as homegrown.
Remarkably, he would have achieved homegrown status if he had joined a club in either England or Wales on loan last season, instead of Kilmarnock in Scotland.
Premier League rules explain homegrown eligibility as:
“A player who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club (or club) affiliated to the FA or the Welsh FA for a period, continuous or not, of three seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).”
Ramsay had been registered to clubs in England for two years and would have met the three-year threshold during the season in which he turned 21.
Instead, he would now need to be registered as a non-homegrown player in the Premier League – and with Liverpool already at capacity with 17 other senior players in Slot’s squad there is no chance of that happening.
Liverpool are already in a position where they will effectively need to sell to buy if they are to register any further senior players to their non-homegrown list – including the imminent signing of left-back Milos Kerkez.
And Ramsay will be among those made available for transfer along with the likes of Darwin Nunez and Federico Chiesa, while Andy Robertson also considers a move to Atletico Madrid.
Though there is established interest in Nunez, Chiesa and Robertson, it may be more difficult to find a willing buyer for Ramsay due to his lack of game time.
The expectation is that he will return to Scotland, particularly as homegrown rules also apply in the Championship, League One and League Two, meaning any club in England or Wales that signs him would need to do so as a non-homegrown player.
But after failing to break into the starting rotation at Kilmarnock, who finished ninth in last season’s 12-team Scottish Premiership, it remains to be seen if any buyers emerge.
Liverpool squad (on July 21)
Non-homegrown players (18): Alisson, Mamardashvili, Van Dijk, Konate, Robertson, Tsimikas, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Wirtz, Szoboszlai, Endo, Salah, Diaz, Jota, Nunez, Chiesa, Gakpo
Homegrown players: (12) Mrozek, Davies, Gomez, Frimpong, Quansah, Bradley, Phillips, Beck, Stephenson, Williams, Jones, Elliott, Morton
Notable U21s: Pecsi, Nyoni, McConnell, Danns, Koumas, Doak, Bajcetic, Chambers, Gordon
