10 Biggest Questions Surrounding Chelsea's Title Bid

5. Which Foreign Player Will Leave?

As experienced Football Manager players know, the Premier League imposes limitations on the number and type of players which a club can register in their squad each season. Clubs can register a total of 25 players each season, but only 17 of those are allowed to be foreign, aka players who did not spend at least three years in England prior to turning 21. The remaining seven slots can only be filled by players who meet the criteria to be counted as homegrown: in Chelsea's case, that's John Terry, Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas. Players under the age of 21 - Kurt Zouma, Nathan Aké, Andreas Christensen - can play without being registered. Chelsea's problem is that their squad presently includes eighteen 'foreign' players, meaning one will either have to leave or not be registered to play this season. In an ideal world, that would be Mark Schwarzer. Although the affable Australian performed credibly when required to fill in for the injured Petr Cech at the end of last season, he's now 41 years old and unlikely to see much action while Petr Cech and Thibaut Courtois remain at the club. Unfortunately, that's a very big 'if'. As explained earlier, one of those two keepers is likely to be very disappointed once tonight's squad is announced, and in all likelihood, it will be the great Petr Cech departing before the transfer window closes at the end of the month. It's a fair assumption that Chelsea predicted such an eventuality unfolding, given Schwarzer was offered a new contract at the start of the season. Losing Cech would be a cause for great sadness, but bring Chelsea's foreign quota within the Premier League limit. Potentially more concerning is that another foreign player would almost certainly have to leave if Chelsea are to add to their squad this season. One of the reasons Chelsea fans are so enthusiastic about Paul Pogba is because his time at Manchester United means he would qualify as a homegrown player in England, but should the Blues pursue Roma's oustanding defender Mehdi Benatia, for instance, another foreign player would have to leave in order to accomodate him. Could Michael Emenalo find a buyer for the hitherto unshiftable Fernando Torres, or will Mikel, Ramires or someone else have to say their farewells? It's a tough call in any case, and the even more restrictive Champions League rules - which requires a certain number of both homegrown AND club-developed players - will only complicate the matter further.