Blackburn Rovers will be subject to new ESC rules after changes made by The Football Association. Under previous criteria, Rovers were able to register four players who wouldn't have otherwise qualified for a GBE work permit. Last season, they were Balazs Toth, Moussa Baradji, Augustus Kargbo and Axel Henriksson. As explained last week, Rovers are now able to convert Toth and Baradji to full work permits due to the number of minutes they played last season. Any player who features in more than 50% of their team's available minutes is able to do so. However, The FA have revealed that new rules which come into effect from Monday, June 15. This impacts all deals in the summer transfer window. The headline news from England's governing body is that ESC slots can now only be used for players under the age of 23. This restricts clubs in the transfer market and would have prevented Rovers from signing any of Toth, Baradji or Kargbo. Though the way the slots work the same and the criteria hasn't altered, the age restriction puts a limit on who is able to use them. In order to qualify for a GBE work permit, players still have to hit the same 15-point threshold. This is weighted on multiple factors such as the league they play in, any European participation or international caps. So, how does this impact Rovers? Well it limits the pool of players they can sign from lower divisions overseas. They are ultimately looking the same areas but it means they can't sign a Yuki Ohashi or Toth because of their age. This does not impact players already in possession of an ESC slot. So Kargbo and Henriksson are unaffected. But it means Rovers can only use their two other slots for emerging talents, rather than anyone older. Tony Mowbray was always likely to steer Rovers towards a better balance of domestic and foreign signings but this move further pushes the club towards the English market.