Originally Posted by Gabe

That's a loop hole, it allowed Mikel and the Nigerian kids to 'study' at Lyn Oslo.

It's not just a question of english immigration laws, FIFA introduced a rule a few years ago that prevents a kid from signing for a club outside his own country until he's 18.
It's designed to curb the traffic and abuse of young african players. An exception would be if the kids family had to move, or in the case of the EU, it is treated as one country.