According to the latest reports, AC Milan, who are linked heavily with Marcus Rashford, are also interested in signing Manchester City player Kyle Walker.
The obstacle, however, is that only one of the two can arrive during this transfer market window, as per the league regulations.
In addition to the ‘Red Devils’ striker, as reported by ‘La Gazzetta dello Sport,’ the Milan club is also keeping an eye on Kyle Walker’s situation, as he is set to leave Manchester City according to Pep Guardiola’s own admission. However, only one of these two players can join Sergio Conceiçao’s team: the reason is explained by the regulations governing Serie A clubs.
Are English players considered EU players?
With the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, specific restrictions emerged regarding the registration of English players by Italian clubs. Starting in 2023, however, English players were treated the same as EU players under the request of Serie A. The same rule applies to Swiss players.
One year later, the same measure was adopted for players of Albanian nationality.
FIGC’s step back Just before the start of the 2024/25 season, the FIGC had to backtrack: no regulatory changes for Swiss players (who remain equated with EU players), but new limitations were introduced for British and Albanian players, as relayed via Goal.
In an official statement reported by ‘Calcio e Finanza,’ the FIGC explained that “for Serie A clubs only, while respecting the current laws on foreign worker entry flows into Italy, the registration of only one British professional footballer and one Albanian professional footballer per club, coming from abroad, is allowed, outside the limitations provided..
“New players with British or Albanian citizenship, registered as per the above, may transfer exclusively to other Serie A clubs during the 2024/2025 season, in a transfer period different from the one in which they were registered coming from abroad.”
Why Milan can only sign one between Walker and Rashford?
These limitations also apply to Walker and Rashford, as they are of British nationality: Milan can only register one of them, as this case falls outside the usual rules for registering non-EU players.
If an Italian club wanted to contract two English players, the number of non-EU players already in the squad would have to be checked for the second player, a restriction that prevents Milan from acquiring both Rashford and Walker.
