FIFA's limits cover international loans, and the Premier League's cover players borrowed from domestic clubs
A Premier League club has to stay within two sets of limits, FIFA's and the Premier League's. FIFA's apply only to international loans, meaning loans with clubs that belong to another country's association. At any one time a club can have six players out on loan and six in, and no more than three each way with the same club. A player loaned before the end of the season in which he turns 21 does not count towards the six if he is a "club-trained player", one who was registered with the lending club for a set period. The Premier League's limits apply mainly when a club takes players on loan from English clubs: two at a time, four in a season, and only one at a time from the same club. Spain has also applied FIFA's figures of six and three to domestic loans since the 2026/27 season. The sections below explain which loans fall under which limits, how the exemption for young players works and what Spain's new rules cover.
FIFA's explanatory notes say that "the new loan regulations apply only to international loans". The Premier League's limits cover loans with other Premier League clubs, with EFL clubs and with clubs in the National League and certain leagues below it. International loans count towards FIFA's limits, domestic ones towards the Premier League's, and the two are counted separately.
| Type of loan | Loaning out | Taking on loan |
|---|---|---|
| International loan | FIFA limit. Up to six at a time, and up to three to the same club | FIFA limit. Up to six at a time, and up to three from the same club |
| Domestic loan for a Premier League club | No FIFA limit. Most numerical limits apply to the borrowing club, but there is also a cap on goalkeepers loaned out to other Premier League clubs | Premier League limit. Two at a time, four a season, and one at a time from the same club |
A player taken on an international loan does not count towards the Premier League's limits of two at a time and four a season, and a player loaned to an EFL club does not count towards FIFA's six. As an exception, a loan from a Welsh club playing in the EFL or one of the other leagues on that list does count towards the Premier League's limits.
FIFA allows six at a time, and the exemption for young players depends on how long they were registered
FIFA's limits took effect in July 2022 and were lowered in stages, from eight to seven, before reaching the current six in July 2024. The limits apply to how many players a club has out or in at any given moment. FIFA's notes give the example of a club that loans out its full quota in the summer and then, in the winter, loans out the same number of different players, which is allowed as long as it never goes over the limit at any one time. The exemption for young players has two conditions, age and club-trained status, and FIFA says both must be met. A club-trained player is one who was registered with the club for three seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21. He does not have to come from the academy. A young player bought from another club is exempt once he has been registered long enough, and even a player aged 21 or under counts towards the six if his registration period falls short. The registration has to be with the lending club itself, so having been trained in the same country is not enough. The limit of three with the same club has no such exemption.
FIFA also regulates the length of a loan, which must run at least from one transfer window to the next and no longer than one year. Extending a loan needs the player's written consent, and the borrowing club cannot loan him on to a third club or transfer him permanently to one. The loan articles, including the limits, carry over with the same content into the new transfer regulations that take effect in January 2027.
A Premier League club can take two players on domestic loans at a time, and four in a season
Because of the one-at-a-time rule for loans from the same club, a Premier League club cannot normally loan two players at once to the same Premier League club. Goalkeeper loans specially approved by the league are the exception. Loans that turn into permanent transfers while they are running are also left out of these limits. The lending club has rules of its own. As a rule it can loan only one goalkeeper a season to other Premier League clubs, and it cannot loan a player to another Premier League club in the same transfer window in which it signed him. The shortest loan is, as a rule, the period between the summer and winter windows, though the league can allow one to end early, and no loan can run past the first 30 June after the date it was agreed.
Spain has capped domestic loans since the 2026/27 season
In its 2022 amendments, FIFA asked national associations to put rules on domestic loans in place by 30 June 2025. The Spanish football federation (RFEF) has limited domestic loans as well since 1 July 2026, through Article 81 of its competition regulations. The numbers are the same as FIFA's. A club can have six players out and six in at any one time, and three each way with any particular club. A loan made before the end of the season in which the player turns 21 is left out of the six if the player is a club-trained player at the lending club, but the exemption does not extend to the limit of three with a particular club. A loan can last until the end of the season at most. FIFA's rules for international loans still apply as before. El Español reported that the domestic six and the international six could in theory add up to 12, and that the limits cover every player on a professional contract, B team and youth players included. At Atlético this season, José María Giménez, 31, who was loaned to Deportivo, counts towards the domestic six, and Jonathan David, taken on loan from Juventus, counts towards FIFA's six.
The Premier League and UEFA competitions treat matches against the parent club differently
In the Premier League, a player on loan cannot play against his parent club unless both clubs agree in writing, and a copy of that agreement has to be submitted to the league before the match. For UEFA competitions, UEFA issued a statement in April 2014 saying that clauses in agreements between clubs that affect which players can take part are void. The statement came when Thibaut Courtois, on loan at Atlético from Chelsea, could have faced his parent club in the Champions League. In Spain, reports say a clause in the contract can keep a player out of matches against his parent club. Giménez reportedly asked for his contract not to include one that would stop him playing against Atlético, saying "I want to be available for every match".
How a loan is accounted for depends on the purchase terms
A loan can come with an option to buy, which the borrowing club is free to take up or not, or with an obligation that makes the purchase binding once certain conditions are met. Under UEFA's financial regulations, a loan with an option stays a loan until the purchase is decided, while a loan with an obligation can be treated as a permanent transfer from the start of the loan. The column on transfer accounting explains in more detail how transfer fees are amortised and how profit on sales is booked.