Liverpool FC's Transfer Policy Struggling to Adapt to Home Grown Quota

Historically, Liverpool football club have placed an emphasis on bringing young talent through the ranks to become stars in their first team.

Recent players such as Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen, who were at the club before they were teenagers, come to mind, while Ian Rush, who joined from Chester City at 19 and Kevin Keegan, who joined from Scunthorpe United at 20, were signed before they had established themselves as the legends that they would become.

The club has gotten away from this policy in recent years, particularly during the Rafael Benitez tenure.

Liverpool's recent acquisition of Andrew Carroll is a reflection of their desire to get both younger and fill their squad with more British based talent.

But are they going about this the right way?

The recent implementation of the Home Grown quota by the FA has made home grown players drastically overvalued.

The Home Grown quota forces every team to have at least eight home grown players in their final submission of a 25 man squad.

Liverpool have been severely affected by this ruling as they have, in recent years, specialized in signing foreign players. The club's most successful signings in the past few seasons have all come from the continent. Players such as Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres would not have qualified as homegrown at the time of signing.

The fact that Liverpool have appointed Kenny Dalglish, a Scottish manager who spent the best part of his career (both managerial and as a player) on English soil, has also made them more inclined to sign local talent ahead of foreigners.

There is a right way of going about this and there is a wrong way of going about this. So far, Liverpool have expertly done both.

It is hard to believe that the team would have paid £35 million for Andrew Carroll without the 'Home Grown' quota, but even with it, I'm still struggling to see why they did. Carroll is a talented footballer, but he has half a season of Premiership football to his name, as well as some off the field instances that throw questions over his character.

Liverpool are not the only club struggling in these circumstances.

Man City started things off with the £26 million signing of James Miliner, but to an extent that was written off as just another eccentric antic from their billionaire owner who thinks he's just started up a new game of Football Manager on his Mac. Aston Villa subsequently used those funds to add Darren Bent's considerable price tag, potentially £24 million, to the list of irrational English signings.

Nobody can compete with Liverpool, however.

Interim manager Kenny Dalglish tried to sign Blackpool's Charlie Adam, an impressive young player, for £14 million during the transfer window. If it wasn't for Ian Holloway's desire to keep his captain, Liverpool would have paid another huge sum for a player with just half a season of Premiership football under his belt.

A late bid of £20 million for Ashley Young was actually a good decision by Liverpool's director of football, Damien Comolli, but because of the standard set for British players now, it was instantly rebuked by Villa. Liverpool will likely make another run at Young during the summer, but it will take an astronomical fee to pries the player away from the clutches of Manchester United and City, who also want the winger.

Kenny Dalglish has reportedly set his sights on the £15 million signing of Gary Cahill from Bolton in the summer. Dalglish prefers the 25-year-old with two international caps over the 28 year old Philippe Mexes, who will be available on a free transfer from Roma. Mexes, who is in his prime, has ten times the amount of caps for France, as well as extensive experience in the Champions League.

Liverpool have got it spectacularly right on occasion, even if it was before John Henry's takeover of the club.

Before Rafael Benitez found himself on a plane to Italy, he had shown the club's intentions to find local talent, signing players like Danny Wilson from Rangers, Jonjo Shelvey from Charlton and Raheem Sterling from QPR.

Sterling is the only one of the three who is yet to appear for the first team this season. Shelvey and Wilson did not come cheap in comparison to what Liverpool had paid for youth players in seasons past. They both look to be excellent additions that could be great players on Merseyside for years to come.

Even though Wilson is Scottish and does not count as a home grown player, he is 19 years of age and will be eligible for citizenship by the time he will have to be registered in the 25-man squad. Players under the age of 21 do not have to be registered.

The emphasis placed on English players is startling and in all likelihood, it's going to hurt the standard of football in the English Premier League. Its no coincidence that Luis Suarez and Raul Meireles are currently Liverpool's best signings of the season. Both players also came at reasonable prices for their respective talents.

It's going to be an interesting summer on Merseyside to say the least.