FEDERICO CHIESA HAS been left out of Liverpool’s Champions League squad at the expense of exciting teenaged forward Rio Ngumhoa.
The 27-year-old Italy international, who has become a cult hero at Anfield despite his lack of playing time, missed the cut as only 17 homegrown players are allowed on the list.
With Liverpool having already signed the likes of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Giovanni Leoni and Giorgi Mamardashvili this summer the British record deadline-day capture of Alexander Isak proved decisive for Chiesa.
That is because head coach Arne Slot opted to name Ngumhoa, who only turned 17 on Friday, after the teenager impressed in pre-season and came off the bench to score a late winner at Newcastle on his Premier League debut.
Chiesa struggled for fitness and form in his maiden campaign after joining from Juventus a year ago and has managed just 29 minutes this season, although he cemented his cult status by coming off the bench to score an important late third goal in the 4-2 win over Bournemouth on the opening day.
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On Tuesday Italy coach Genarro Gatuso said he spoke to Chiesa about a recall for this international break and the player told him “he did not feel ready to return, he wants to be 100%”.
Slot has named a squad of 22 – each team can name a maximum of 25 on their main ‘A’ list but at least eight places must be reserved for locally-trained or homegrown players.
An unlimited number of players can be included on the ‘B’ list due to their age and club-trained status.
However, despite his age Ngumhoa does not qualify for the B list as, according to Uefa regulations, in order to qualify he had to have been eligible to play for Liverpool for two consecutive years since his 15th birthday and he was only signed from Chelsea last summer.
Meanwhile, Athletic Bilbao were blocked from signing ex-Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte by world football governing body Fifa, the Spanish club said on Wednesday.
The Basque side said they tried to sign him on 1 September from Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr, but it could not be completed for “external factors beyond (Athletic’s) control”, with Spanish media saying the paperwork was submitted late.
The Spanish federation asked Fifa to grant an exception for Laporte’s move but Athletic said they were informed on Wednesday Fifa had denied the request.
Athletic said they were “studying all possibilities within the existing legal framework” to still try and bring in Laporte, but if they could not then the agreements with the player and Al-Nassr will be void.
Spain centre-back Laporte, 31, left Athletic for City in 2018 before joining Al-Nassr in 2023.
And the Football Association has said it will not appeal against the decision by an independent commission to clear West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta of four spot-fixing charges.
The written reasons for the commission’s decisions in the case were published on Wednesday afternoon.
Sanctions in relation to two charges which were found proven – relating to an alleged failure to co-operate with the FA investigation – will be decided by the commission at the earliest opportunity, the FA said.
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Chiesa omitted from Liverpool’s Champions League squad
FEDERICO CHIESA HAS been left out of Liverpool’s Champions League squad at the expense of exciting teenaged forward Rio Ngumhoa.
The 27-year-old Italy international, who has become a cult hero at Anfield despite his lack of playing time, missed the cut as only 17 homegrown players are allowed on the list.
With Liverpool having already signed the likes of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Giovanni Leoni and Giorgi Mamardashvili this summer the British record deadline-day capture of Alexander Isak proved decisive for Chiesa.
That is because head coach Arne Slot opted to name Ngumhoa, who only turned 17 on Friday, after the teenager impressed in pre-season and came off the bench to score a late winner at Newcastle on his Premier League debut.
Chiesa struggled for fitness and form in his maiden campaign after joining from Juventus a year ago and has managed just 29 minutes this season, although he cemented his cult status by coming off the bench to score an important late third goal in the 4-2 win over Bournemouth on the opening day.
On Tuesday Italy coach Genarro Gatuso said he spoke to Chiesa about a recall for this international break and the player told him “he did not feel ready to return, he wants to be 100%”.
Slot has named a squad of 22 – each team can name a maximum of 25 on their main ‘A’ list but at least eight places must be reserved for locally-trained or homegrown players.
An unlimited number of players can be included on the ‘B’ list due to their age and club-trained status.
However, despite his age Ngumhoa does not qualify for the B list as, according to Uefa regulations, in order to qualify he had to have been eligible to play for Liverpool for two consecutive years since his 15th birthday and he was only signed from Chelsea last summer.
Meanwhile, Athletic Bilbao were blocked from signing ex-Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte by world football governing body Fifa, the Spanish club said on Wednesday.
The Basque side said they tried to sign him on 1 September from Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr, but it could not be completed for “external factors beyond (Athletic’s) control”, with Spanish media saying the paperwork was submitted late.
The Spanish federation asked Fifa to grant an exception for Laporte’s move but Athletic said they were informed on Wednesday Fifa had denied the request.
Athletic said they were “studying all possibilities within the existing legal framework” to still try and bring in Laporte, but if they could not then the agreements with the player and Al-Nassr will be void.
Spain centre-back Laporte, 31, left Athletic for City in 2018 before joining Al-Nassr in 2023.
And the Football Association has said it will not appeal against the decision by an independent commission to clear West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta of four spot-fixing charges.
The written reasons for the commission’s decisions in the case were published on Wednesday afternoon.
Sanctions in relation to two charges which were found proven – relating to an alleged failure to co-operate with the FA investigation – will be decided by the commission at the earliest opportunity, the FA said.
- With reporting from – © AFP 2025
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