Why new City signing Jurasek can’t play until February
Why new City signing Jurasek can’t play until February
Norwich City have completed the signing of Slavia Prague winger Matej Jurasek,
but the Czech winger will have to wait to make his debut.
The Canaries have wrapped up a deal to sign the 21-year-old for a package of €7m but,
owing to Brexit rules, will be unable to register him until after the transfer window.
That means Jurasek will be unlikely to play for Norwich until February. Here is why.
Jurasek doesn’t amass enough points to qualify for a GBE (Governing Body Endorsement) due to the
ranking of the Czech league and his limited domestic and international minutes.
Estimations put the winger on 11 points, with 15 required to qualify.
Previously, that would have been enough to scupper a deal – but the introduction of
Elite Significant Contribution (ESC) slots in late 2020 has re-opened previously closed markets after
complaints that other European countries were stealing a march in recruitment circles over English clubs.
Due to needing to qualify for 15 points by becoming a full-fledged international or regular at a high level,
Premier League and EFL clubs were being restricted on who – and from where – they could sign players.
This backdrop prompted the Home Office to approve some game-changers by creating ESCs,
which would provide clubs with a limited number of slots to sign players not currently eligible for a GBE
but who could eventually qualify for one.
It is essentially a gateway into England for those yet to have enough points to gain a GBE
giving the clubs more flexibility to sign younger talents from further afield.
Each Premier League and EFL club can potentially have as many as four slots
but it depends on the percentage of minutes handed to English Qualified Players.
Norwich do have four ESC slots currently – they are occupied by Amankwah Forson,
Oscar Schwartau, Jose Cordoba and Ante Crnac. That means their full quota is occupied,
which is why they will have to wait to register Jurasek until the next registration window,
which opens after the transfer deadline on February 3.
Due to the Czechia winger not automatically qualifying for a GBE, as aforementioned,
Jurasek will need to occupy one of those ESC slots. City will need to go through the process of creating one.
As per the rules, a player can be converted to full GBE status after one transfer window
(if signed in the summer, then post-January),
providing they are either able to qualify naturally through increased international minutes or
have played a certain percentage of minutes for the club over the period of time that they have played for the
club – for U21 players, that is 50pc of minutes.
Once this happens, those currently in the ESC slot move to gain a GBE,
thus freeing up a slot for another player to take.
Crnac has now played 1,742 minutes in the Championship this season,
which is over the 1,170 threshold eligible to convert his ESC into a GBE.
But that window is only twice every year – in September and in February.
Once that process is complete, Jurasek can take over the vacant slot.
Cordoba could also qualify for a GBE through Panama’s improved Fifa ranking.
It’s understood that Schwartau and Forson could also qualify for GBEs come the February window,
but it is thought to still be tight.
The process post-transfer window should be routine and is a formality.
But this is the first known example of an English club signing a player in this way.
In the meantime, Jurasek is not able to play, train or even be in the country until that process is complete.
After concluding his City medical and finalising the deal, he immediately returned to Czechia,
where he will train alone in a club programme to preserve his fitness.
Norwich may even send a member of their performance team to Prague to assist with that process.
Jurasek is unable to complete anything that could be constituted as ‘work’ without ESC registration
meaning even media interviews and meetings are a no-go at this stage.
Norwich were aware of this situation before even beginning their pursuit of Jurasek.
It has added an extra layer of complication to getting this deal over the line,
but they believe the player will be worth it.
They could have pulled the plug. But given their certainty of his long-term role in their project,
there is an acceptance that waiting a few weeks for Jurasek to be eligible is a better outcome than
risking losing the small window to bring him to Carrow Road. Either they sign him in these conditions,
or risk missing out completely.
There is a feeling that at least one other club would have presented themselves in the summer if
City had let this window to sign Jurasek slip.
Such is the willingness to do the deal that they have decided to continue down this path,
knowing the complications and likely frustrations from some factions of their support over his instant
unavailability.
City could have held off an announcement and waited until nearer the end of the window to unveil Jurasek
but that would have created a vacuum of speculation that wouldn’t have been wanted or
sustainable given the public nature of their pursuit since initial reports emerged on Christmas Day.
Norwich will need to navigate matches against Sheffield United, Leeds,
Swansea and Watford without Jurasek as a part of his squad.
The hope is then that by the time City face Derby at Carrow Road on February 8,
he will be registered and available to play.
This new post-Brexit recruitment system does make it harder to sign talented overseas players.
In a pre-Brexit world, there would be no delay or need to consider these aspects.
It is the new world that football recruitment finds itself in, and the plates that need spinning.
For Ben Knapper and head of recruitment Lee Dunn,
it has been a painstaking process to explain the plan of action to Jurasek, his representatives, and Slavia.
That has now been completed. Now, it’s just a waiting game.
That may be frustrating, given Norwich’s need for wide options in Borja Sainz’s absence
but if they wanted to sign Jurasek, there was no other route under the current rules and regulations.
City will be hoping it is a case of good things come to those who wait.
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