Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been axed from Chelsea’s Champions League squad with record-breaking signing Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix included.
Benoit Badiashile is also not listed on Chelsea’s UEFA squad page after joining in a £35m deal last month.
Chelsea were only allowed to register a maximum of three new players for the knockout stages of the Champions League, before taking on Borussia Dortmund in the last 16, starting on February 15.
All clubs are limited to a 25-man squad and Chelsea used 24 players in the group stage, with only one of them – Jorginho – leaving the club in the January transfer window. Clubs had to inform UEFA of their desired squad changes by 11pm on Thursday, February 2.
The three new registered players are allowed to have played for another club in European competitions this season, so being cup-tied for the knockout stages was not an option for any of the players.
Chelsea made eight signings in January for a combined total of £323.3m. Malo Gusto is staying on loan at Lyon and Andrey Santos is waiting for a work permit so that left Graham Potter with the dilemma of picking three players from Fernandez, Mudryk, Felix, Badiashile, David Datro Fofana and Noni Madueke.
Aubameyang is included in Chelsea’s 25-man Premier League squad along with their new signings as there are no restrictions on how many changes clubs can make. The deadline was also on Thursday.
The full Chelsea Champions League squad
GOALKEEPERS
Kepa Arrizabalaga, Marcus Bettinelli, Edouard Mendy
DEFENDERS
Thiago Silva, Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Kalidou Koulibaly, César Azpilicueta, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana
MIDFIELDERS
Enzo Fernández, N’Golo Kanté, Mateo Kovačić, Christian Pulišić, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount, Denis Zakaria, Hakim Ziyech, Conor Gallagher, Carney Chukwuemeka, Charlie Webster, Lewis Hall
FORWARDS
João Félix, Mykhailo Mudryk, Armando Broja, Kai Havertz
Sky Sports
