• Premier League

Hargreaves in Manchester United's 25-man squad

Owen Hargreaves has barely played in the last two years © Getty Images

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Owen Hargreaves has been included in Manchester United's 25 man squad list, despite a list of injuries that has seen him play just 30 seconds since September 2008.

Hargreaves does not count as a 'Homegrown' player as he spent his early years in Germany, but Sir Alex Ferguson has taken a gamble in including the England midfielder and hopes to see him back to full fitness after he spent time with a specialist in the United States.

Tottenham, meanwhile, have left Jonathan Woodgate out of their squad, with the 30-year-old defender having not played a game since November due to injury and fighting to save his career. Goalkeeper Ben Alnwick misses out, too, following the arrival of Stipe Pletikosa.

The rules: Each club's 25-man squad should have eight home-grown players who - regardless of age or nationality - spent three years (or a total of 36 months) in the youth system of a club in England or Wales before they reached the age of 21.

Contrary to reports elsewhere, players aged under 21 can, if required, be named in the 25-man squad as a home-grown player. An Under-21 player is defined as being born on or after January 1, 1989.

Clubs can use an unlimited number of Under-21 players in addition to their 25-man squad. For instance, Chelsea would not need to name Daniel Sturridge or Gael Kakuta in their 25-man squad.

Any player who is left out of the 25-man squad will only be eligible to play in the Carling Cup until January 1. From January 1 to January 31, clubs can make unlimited changes to their 25-man squad. On February 1 a new 25-man squad must be named to run until the end of the current campaign.

If a club chooses fewer than 25 players for their squad it is almost certainly due to them having a large number of under-21 players. Clubs with fewer than 25 players in their squad are still permitted to sign free agents.

Notable players to be left out of the squads include: Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham), Ben Alnwick (Tottenham), Luke Moore (West Brom), Michael Kightly (Wolves), Mamady Sidibe (Stoke), Riga Mustapha (Bolton).

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