CHELSEA have left a new signing out of their squad for the Champions League, just days after he said how excited he was to have the opportunity to play in the competition.
Argentine attacking midfielder Facundo Buonanotte was bought in on loan from Brighton for the season, as cover for Cole Palmer, who is currently sidelined by a groin issue.
Chelsea signing Facundo Buonanotte was left out of the Champions League squadDarren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca had to make some tough decisionsJUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
Upon signing, Buonanotte said, “It’s a great step in my career. I’ll get the opportunity to play in the Champions League for the first time, which will be a great challenge.”
So it was a shock to fans when he was left out of the UEFA A list to be registered for their league phase fixtures, which kick off away to Bayern Munich on September 17th.
That surprise was compounded by the fact that Levi Colwill, set to miss the majority of the season after suffering an ACL injury, was named on the A list.
Fans then would’ve scrolled and expected to see him on the Blues’ B list.
But he is not eligible for that either, with only Tyrique George, Romeo Lavia and Josh Acheampong named there.
Chelsea at least had no problem in registering new signings Joao Pedro, Estevao Willian, Jorrel Hato, Dario Essugo, Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap and Alejandro Garnacho, who will wear the number 49 for the Blues as announced today.
This is thanks to their excellent summer sales business, from which they raised over £300MILLION in the summer, a record-breaking amount by a Premier League team in a single window.
UEFA regulations state: “Clubs are entitled to register an unlimited number of players on List B during the season if they are born on or after 1 January 2003 and are eligible.
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“To be eligible for a player List B, the squad member must be born on or after 1 January 2004 and has, since his 15th birthday, been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years, or a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year.”
Buonanotte, while born in December 2004, has not been able to play for Chelsea for an uninterrupted period of two years, and has also only been registered to Brighton since January 2023, which means he wouldn’t be able to be registered in the Champions League until January 2026.
Ahead of the knockout phase,, those clubs that make it through the league phase can register a maximum of three new players by 23:00 GMT on February 5, 2025.
Chelsea Champions League squad
Chelsea have announced their Champions League squad for the league phase:
Chelsea UEFA A list: Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Malo Gusto, Reece James, Jorrel Hato, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Dario Essugo, Andrey Santos, Liam Delap, Alejandro Garnacho, Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto, Joao Pedro, Estevao, Jamie Gittens, Marc Guiu.
B list: Tyrique George, Romeo Lavia and Josh Acheampong.
Players to miss out: Facundo Buonanotte, Gaga Slonina, Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling, Axel Disasi and David Datro Fofana – with the latter three not even mentioned on the club’s website.
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