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DAVID CUFFLEY, EVENING NEWS SPORT
03 September 2008 09:47

The Canaries can include up to seven of their current loan players in their squad of 16 for Championship matches - because two of them are not technically loan signings.

Monday's pre-deadline capture of Antoine Sibierski, from Wigan, and Jonathan Grounds, from Middlesbrough, took manager Glenn Roeder's temporary signings up to eight this season.

Under Football League rules, a club can name only five loan players in the 16 on the teamsheet, but that does not mean three of City's borrowed brigade are obliged to sit kicking their heels on the sidelines at each game.

That's because striker Arturo Lupoli and defender John Kennedy, who came from clubs in Italy and Scotland, respectively, could not be signed on conventional loan deals.

Players recruited from overseas, or from clubs in Scotland and Northern Ireland - as well as Welsh clubs not in the Football League - are regarded as cross-border signings.

?The Football League does not recognise cross-border loans,? explained City secretary Kevan Platt. ?The player has to sign a professional contract with the club as opposed to a loan deal. Technically they are not in the loan quota.?

Under that arrangement, a player has to cancel his registration with his own club and sign a contract with the new club. A clause is included in the contract stating he will return to his original club at the end of the ?loan? period.

It means that for the rest of the season, Lupoli, signed from Fiorentina, is technically a Norwich player - as is Kennedy, from Celtic, until January 1.

The regulations work in Norwich's favour as Roeder can include these two, plus five of his six orthodox loan signings, in his 16 for matches.

City's loan list is completed by Ryan Bertrand, Elliot Omozusi, Omar Koroma and Troy Archibald-Henville.

Posted By: SCC 28, Nov 6, 09:57:16