Unai Emery, Ange Postecoglou and Enzo Maresca all face headaches over which players to leave out of their European squads ahead of Thursday night’s deadline.
Uefa have confirmed to Telegraph Sport that Premier League clubs are allowed to register a maximum of three new players for the knock-out stages of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League.
That leaves Aston Villa manager Emery, Tottenham Hotspur head coach Postecoglou and Chelsea head coach Maresca with big decisions to make before Uefa’s 11pm deadline on Thursday night.
Emery is perhaps facing the biggest headache, as he will have to tell one of Villa’s four big-name winter signings – all of whom had expressed excitement at the propect of playing in the Champions League – that they will not be part of his European squad.
Along with young right-back Andrés García, who is not expected to be named in the Champions League squad, Villa signed Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio, Axel Disasi and Donyell Malen during the winter transfer window.
That means one of Rashford, Asensio, Disasi and Malen will have to be left out and Emery’s decision is further complicated by the fact he currently has three first-team defenders – Pau Torres, Tyrone Mings and Matt Cash – out injured.
Rashford expressed his desire to win the Champions League after joining Villa on loan for the rest of the season by saying: “If we don’t aim to win it, then we’re never going to win it.”
Asensio, a three-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, said: “I’ve got experience in these types of [Champions League] games. I think we’ll be prepared.”
Malen reached the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund last season and, on joining Villa, said: “It was a very important thing when deciding to move. This is where you want to play.
And following his deadline-day loan move from Chelsea, Disasi said: “It will be my first time that I play Champions League, so I am very excited.”
Having sold Jhon Durán, Diego Carlos and Jaden Philogene, and loaned out Emi Buendía, Kosta Nedeljkovic and Joe Gauci, Emery has plenty of space in his Champions League squad but can only make three new additions.
Postecoglou’s big decision will be whether to bring Djed Spence, who has performed well in recent weeks, into Tottenham’s Europa League squad, given Tottenham made three new signings during the winter window.
Spence was left out of Tottenham’s European squad for the league phase of the competition and, like Emery, Postecoglou’s decision is likely to be influenced by injuries.
Radu Dragusin’s season-ending injury means he is likely to be replaced by new signing Kevin Danso, while the arrival of forward Mathys Tel will likely mean that Timo Werner or Wilson Odobert, who have both been missing through injury, will drop out.
Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky has been Postecoglou’s first-choice while Guglielmo Vicario has been out injured, but the Italian is on his way back.
Kinsky could replace Fraser Forster in the Europa League squad, but he could miss out if Postecoglou decides to reward Spence – although first-choice left-back Destiny Udogie is on his way back from injury.
Maresca’s decision is slightly easier, given Chelsea have made room in their Conference League squad through loaning players such as Disasi, João Félix and Renato Veiga out.
Chelsea left Cole Palmer, Roméo Lavia and Wesley Fofana out of their league phase squad, and have also recalled Trevoh Chalobah from his loan at Crystal Palace. Only three of those four players can be named in the knock-out phase squad, but Fofana’s injury may make up Maresca’s mind.
Two years ago, Chelsea were forced to cut striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from their Champions League squad after making eight January signings – only three of whom could be registered for the knock-out stage.
