Federico Chiesa left out as Liverpool name 22-man Champions League squad

Federico Chiesa has not been included in Liverpool’s Champions League squad for the league phase of the competition.

Given Chiesa’s relatively strong start to the campaign in comparison to last season, his omission comes as a surprise.

Despite coming off the bench in each of the Reds’ first three Premier League games, the Italian has been left out of the league phase squad, with Rio Ngumoha instead occupying one of the permitted 17 non-homegrown player slots.

Ngumoha, 17, will eventually qualify as a homegrown player but does not yet, thus taking up a non-homegrown slot.

The reason why Chiesa has been omitted is quite complicated and is explained below, but it seems to have ultimately boiled down to a choice between Ngumoha and the more senior attacker.

In the Champions League, where homegrown rules differ to the Premier League, clubs can submit a squad of up to 25 ‘List A’ players and an unlimited of number ‘List B’ players to UEFA.

List A has eight spaces reserved for ‘homegrown’ or ‘locally-trained’ players, plus 17 spots for non-locally trained players.

Liverpool have used their maximum quota of 17 without Chiesa involved.

Jeremie Frimpong is eligible to be classed as ‘homegrown’ due to him being ‘association-trained’ for more than three seasons by Man City in his youth.

Ngumoha cannot be registered as a locally-trained player yet as, under UEFA rules, he has not been a Liverpool player long enough, having only turned 17 years old last week.

This means he is unable to be submitted in one of the eight reserved spaces for ‘locally-trained’ or ‘homegrown’ players on List A.

The youngster is also not eligible for List B, which is exclusively for players born on or after January 1, 2004, who have, since their 15th birthday, been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years – there are some exceptions to the rule as outlined by UEFA here.

While academy prospects such as Trey Nyoni and Jayden Danns are eligible for List B, Ngumoha is not so had to be named as one of Liverpool’s 17 non-homegrown players on List A.

Notably, Chiesa’s compatriot, Giovani Leoni has been included on List A, so will be able to feature if needed.

Thankfully for Chiesa, his hopes of playing Champions League football this season aren’t completely over, because the squad can be updated following the completion of the league phase.

Youngsters Nyoni, Stefan Bajcetic and Danns are able to play without needing to be named in the main List A.

However new signings such as Armin Pecsi and Will Wright do not fall under UEFA’s parameters for List B as they have not been at the club for sufficient time. Players who qualify as under-21 must have been registered for at least two years to be eligible for List B.