Saints could be beneficiaries if a new UEFA rule on homegrown player quotas is accepted this summer.

UEFA president Michel Platini has been concerned that the number of foreign players in domestic leagues is harming the development of homegrown talent and therefore national teams.

He has proposed that a certain number of players developed at a club's academy should be named in each matchday squad.

Though that number has not yet been formally set, it could be as high as five or six.

The move, which is being discussed at UEFA's executive committee meeting this week, looks likely to happen, though potentially not quite in time for the start of next season, but could be in force for 2009/10.

Saints are already facing up to having to shed many of their higher earners in a bid to cut their wage bill.

They are preparing to have to field many of the youngsters that have come through the club's academy system next season, leaving them in a decent position compared to other clubs who could be badly affected by any such move.

The return of Rupert Lowe and Michael Wilde is also expected to see more money poured into the academy as part of what they have described as their "long term planning" approach.

Full story: see today's Daily Echo.