The U’s brought in 16 players this summer, and with strict rules to follow on loanees and Under-21s, United find themselves in a position where one player must be left out.

An unlimited number of Under-21 players are allowed without registration, but all loanees must be included in the 25-man squad.

READ ALSO: How did U’s perform in summer transfer window – and what might be key in January?

The EFL has confirmed to this newspaper that an Under-21 player is classified as anyone born on or after January 1, 2003, therefore Tyler Goodrham and Max Woltman, who were previously thought to be deemed over 21, will not contribute to the 25-man squad.

In terms of loanees, the U’s have three in their squad, in the form of Malcolm Ebiowei, Ben Nelson and Dane Scarlett.

The Football League’s handbook for the 2024/25 season states: “The League will publish each club’s squad list and a list of all other contract players eligible to participate in league matches but are not included on the squad list, on the League’s official website within seven days of the closing of a transfer window.”

Asked about the 25-man squad cap, United head coach Des Buckingham responded: “They’re conversations we’ll have this week. We had to get through this bit, to see where we ended up on Friday afternoon, but we’ll have those conversations with the players.

“You can have a plan on incomings and a plan on the players outgoing. Some of that is in your control, certainly with incomings, but some of it isn’t with outgoings, for many reasons.

“We’ve got the squad we have now. We need to make decisions on what that 25-man squad looks like, to make sure we’re in the best position we can be going from this point forward.”

Speaking more generally about the summer transfer window as a whole, Buckingham was delighted with what the club managed to get done, and acknowledged there is always an ambition for more activity.

He said: “I’m happy with what we’ve done. You always want to do more, but when you’ve done 16 in total, it’s been a big change.

“It’s a change we needed. We wanted to improve the quality of our team and our squad, and I’m happy with what we’ve done.

“We can’t do it all in one go. We’ve done a good enough job in this window, and 16 isn’t just a big number, as there was a lot of work that went into each of those, and it took up a lot of time.

“We’ve got another window in January and another window next summer. We want to build this squad, and if this is the starting point for us, it’s about looking at what works and what doesn’t, with one eye already on January.”

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Current players who would count towards the 25-player squad

GOALKEEPERS

Jamie Cumming

Simon Eastwood

Matt Ingram

DEFENDERS

Joe Bennett

Ciaron Brown

Peter Kioso

Greg Leigh

Sam Long

Elliott Moore

Ben Nelson

Hidde ter Avest

Jordan Thorniley

MIDFIELDERS

Cameron Brannagan

Idris El Mizouni

Josh McEachran

Ruben Rodrigues

Louie Sibley

Will Vaulks

ATTACKERS

Owen Dale

Siriki Dembele

Malcolm Ebiowei

Will Goodwin

Mark Harris

Matt Phillips

Przemyslaw Placheta

Dane Scarlett

Under-21 players (born on or after January 1, 2003) who would not count towards the squad limit

Marselino Ferdinan

James Golding

Tyler Goodrham

Max Woltman

Out on loan

Eddie Brearey (Under-21)

Jack Currie

Stuart Findlay

Josh Johnson (Under-21)

Jacob Knightbridge (Under-21)

Ed McGinty

Stephan Negru

Gatlin O’Donkor (Under-21)