Matej Jurasek, a winger for Slavia Prague, has officially joined Norwich City, but the Czech player will not be able to play right away.
The 21-year-old has agreed to a €7 million contract with the Canaries, but they won’t be able to register him until after the transfer window because of Brexit regulations. Jurasek is therefore not expected to play for Norwich until February. Here’s why.
Jurasek’s limited domestic and international playing time and the Czech league’s ranking prevent him from earning enough points to be eligible for a GBE (Governing Body Endorsement). With 15 points needed to qualify, the winger is estimated to have 11 points.
That used to be sufficient to ruin a contract, but after complaints that other European nations were outshining English teams in the recruitment process, the Elite Significant Contribution (ESC) slots were introduced in late 2020, reopening previously closed markets.
Premier League and EFL clubs were limited in who they could sign and from where they could sign players because they had to earn 15 points by becoming a full-fledged international or regular at a high level.
In light of this, the Home Office approved some game-changers by establishing ESCs, which would give teams a restricted number of spots to recruit players who aren’t yet eligible for a GBE but may in the future.
In essence, it serves as a doorway to England for players who do not yet have enough points to get a GBE, allowing the teams greater freedom to recruit younger players from outside the country.
Depending on the proportion of minutes allotted to English-qualified players, each Premier League and EFL team may be able to have up to four spots.
Currently, Amankwah Forson, Oscar Schwartau, Jose Cordoba, and Ante Crnac are occupying Norwich’s four ESC berths. They will have to wait until the next registration window, which starts after the transfer deadline on February 3, in order to register Jurasek because their whole quota is already taken.
Jurasek will have to take up one of the ESC spots because, as previously mentioned, the Czechia winger does not automatically qualify for a GBE. To create one, the city will have to go through the process.
According to the regulations, a player can be promoted to full GBE status after one transfer window (if they signed in the summer, then after January) if they can either naturally qualify through more international minutes or have played a specific percentage of minutes for the team during their time there, which is 50 percent of minutes for U21 players.
When this occurs, players who are occupying the ESC slot relocate to obtain a GBE, making room for another player to occupy the space.
With 1,742 minutes played in the Championship thus far this season, Crnac has surpassed the 1,170 required to turn his ESC into a GBE. However, that window only occurs twice a year, in February and September.
Jurasek can occupy the open spot after that procedure is finished. Panama’s improved FIFA position might possibly earn Cordoba a GBE. Although it is believed to be tight, it is understood that Schwartau and Forson may also be eligible for GBEs come the February window.
The post-transfer window procedure is a formality and ought to be standard. However, this is the first instance of an English team signing a player in this manner that we are aware of.
Until that process is finished, Jurasek cannot play, train, or even travel to the nation. He quickly returned to Czechia after completing his City physical and sealing the deal, where he would train by himself in a club program to maintain his condition. To help with that process, Norwich might even dispatch a member of their performance staff to Prague.
Without ESC registration, Jurasek cannot finish anything that may be considered “work”; therefore, even meetings and interviews with the media are currently prohibited.
This was something Norwich knew even before they started chasing Jurasek. They think the player will be worth it, even if it has made closing this deal even more difficult.
They had the option to cut the power. However, there is a consensus that waiting a few weeks for Jurasek to become eligible is preferable than risking losing the brief window to bring him to Carrow Road, especially because they are assured of his long-term importance in their project. They risk losing out entirely if they don’t sign him under these terms.
If City had missed this window to sign Jurasek, there’s a suspicion that at least one other team would have come forward in the summer. They are so eager to close the deal that they have chosen to go forward in this direction despite the difficulties and perhaps the annoyance of some of their supporters over his immediate unavailability.
Given the public nature of their pursuit since the first reports surfaced on Christmas Day, City could have postponed an announcement and waited until closer to the end of the window to reveal Jurasek, but it would have left a void of speculation that would not have been desired or sustained.
Without Jurasek in his lineup, Norwich will have to contend with games against Sheffield United, Leeds, Swansea, and Watford. It is hoped that he will be registered and ready to play by the time City plays Derby at Carrow Road on February 8.
It is more difficult to sign talented foreign players with this new post-Brexit recruitment procedure. There wouldn’t be any delay or need to take these factors into account in a world before Brexit. Football recruitment is operating in a new environment, and there are many moving parts to consider.
Explaining the strategy to Jurasek, his aides, and Slavia has been a laborious process for Ben Knapper and Lee Dunn, head of recruitment. That’s finished now. The only thing left to do is wait.
Given that Norwich needed broad alternatives in Borja Sainz’s absence, that would be annoying, but under the present laws and regulations, there was no other way for them to sign Jurasek.
The city will be hoping that those that wait will benefit.
