Squad Registration for PL and UCL 2024/25

[SJSharky]

I was going through the list of our current players and squad registration for both the Premier League and the Champions League next season. I thought I might as well post a few observations in case anyone else finds them interesting or helpful in structuring the current squad.

Non-U21, non-homegrown - Maximum of 17 in both PL and UCL
1. Douglas Luiz
2. McGinn
3. Bailey
4. Torres
5. Diaby
6. Tielemans
7. Kamara
8. Buendia
9. Diego Carlos
10. Digne
11. Moreno
12. Olsen
13. Gauci
14. Zaniolo - probably not in the squad
15. Lenglet - probably not in the squad
(16. Duran - for UCL)
(17. Nedeljkovic - for UCL)
Didn't include: Dendoncker, Coutinho, Hause

Homegrown - Minimum of 8 (incl. club-trained) for a full 25 player squad
1. Martinez
2. Watkins
3. Konsa
4. Mings
5. Cash
6. Rogers - no longer U21 next season
7. Chambers - probably not in the squad

Club-trained - Minimum of 4 for a full 25 player UCL squad A List
1. Ramsey
2. Kesler - no longer U21 next season
3. Archer
4. Sinisalo

U21 - Don't count towards the 25 player limit in PL or UCL, unless mentioned otherwise
Duran - can't be named in UCL B List
Nedeljkovic - can't be named in UCL B List
Sousa - can't be named in UCL B List
Iroegbunam
Kellyman
Others: Marschall, Barry, Bogarde, Revan, Chrisene, Munroe, Feeney, O'Reilly, Young etc...

We're already at a point where we need to pretty much start with moving players out before signing new ones. Rogers and Kesler are no longer considered U21 players next season.

If we want a full A List squad of 25 for UCL, we would need to sign at least one more club-trained player (eg. Grealish, Philogene) (Edit - not true). If we don't keep Ramsey, Kesler, Archer or Sinisalo, we're basically giving away a spot from the UCL squad. Picking Sinisalo as one of the main three keepers would release another spot for an outfield player compared to choosing Olsen and Gauci like we did this season.

Someone like Barkley would add a homegrown player for the PL squad if we're going to be short otherwise. Assuming Chambers is moved on and Archer and Sinisalo are still not considered, we currently have 8 homegrown players for the PL squad. You'd think Martinez, Watkins, Konsa and Rogers are absolute certainties for the next season. Then there are:
Mings and Ramsey - I can only see them not named in the squad/sold if there are serious issues with their recovery, or FFP/PSR reasons in Ramsey's case
Cash and Kesler - not in the squad if Emery deems either not good enough/not suited for the tactics, possibly a loan in Kesler's case

If I understand the registration rules correctly (quite possible that I don't), while Duran, Nedeljkovic and Lino Sousa count as U21 players in the PL, they can not be named in the UCL B List, because they've not been at the club for 2 years. Therefore they would take one of the 17 non-home grown spots.

This season Emery didn't have a full squad and I think he mentioned earlier in the season that he doesn't feel it's necessary to have a 25 man squad, which is probably usually true. It's already difficult to keep everyone happy if you have two players for every position, assuming we have slightly better luck with injuries. Obviously you can also utilise the U21 players.

Feel free to correct any mistakes.

Edited May 22 by SJSharky
Corrected Kesler's club-trained status

[OutByEaster?]

I'm confused, if Duran and Nedelijokovic are both U21, why are they in the first list?

[SJSharky]

19 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I'm confused, if Duran and Nedelijokovic are both U21, why are they in the first list?

I addressed this later:

56 minutes ago, SJSharky said:

If I understand the registration rules correctly (quite possible that I don't), while Duran, Nedeljkovic and Lino Sousa count as U21 players in the PL, they can not be named in the UCL B List, because they've not been at the club for 2 years. Therefore they would take one of the 17 non-home grown spots.

I didn't go deeper into the registration rules and was wondering myself if we could register Duran in the B List for the knockout phase in 2025 once he's been at the club for two years. The wording wasn't clear on the UEFA site, whether it meant 2 years before the player's first registration or the current registration.

[East London Villa]

Great post. I spent a lot of time looking at this for Conference League. It’s all far too complicated!

The way I had read the rules last season, you need a 3 year stretch at Villa OR 2 years with a max 1 year loan in between to achieve club trained status. If that is still the case, I’m not sure that Louie Barry is eligible for UEFA List B either.

A few more examples of players not eligible for List B next season are Aidan Borland, Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba, Rico Richards, Lander Emery. The first 2 especially you might expect to make the bench in Europe at some point, but they wouldn’t be able to unless we drop a senior player out of the picture.

If we sign Barkley that makes sense to me for homegrown Premier League rule, but I think it pushes one of our senior central or attacking midfielders out of the picture for Europe. Unfortunately I have a feeling that would be Buendia, unless we keep both club trained Sinisalo and Zych for 2nd and 3rd choice keepers and that frees up another outfield spot in on of the 17 “free” players.

It will be interesting to see how it develops over the summer.

[juanpabloangel18]

13 hours ago, SJSharky said:

If I understand the registration rules correctly (quite possible that I don't), while Duran, Nedeljkovic and Lino Sousa count as U21 players in the PL, they can not be named in the UCL B List, because they've not been at the club for 2 years. Therefore they would take one of the 17 non-home grown spots.

Yeah this rule pickled me every year in my FM Villa save where I would sign promising U21 players forgetting they weren't actually very helpful for the UCL squad rules

Edit: I like that you've highlighted the potential importance of activating the buybacks on JPB or Archer for UCL purposes (or even Jack... )

Edited May 22 by juanpabloangel18

[tomav84]

kessler should count as club trained now right?

[SJSharky]

2 hours ago, tomav84 said:

kessler should count as club trained now right?

Yes! Thanks for the correction. I'll fix the original post. I had looked his 'date joined' wrong and thought he had been on loan too much to count as club-trained for UCL, but obviously he was a part of the youth team before that.

  

5 hours ago, East London Villa said:

The way I had read the rules last season, you need a 3 year stretch at Villa OR 2 years with a max 1 year loan in between to achieve club trained status. If that is still the case, I’m not sure that Louie Barry is eligible for UEFA List B either.

Yeah, the same rules AFAIK. You are correct about Barry. I wasn't going to include him in the list originally so forgot to check.

Edited May 22 by SJSharky
Added another answer instead of a new post

[Ceemo]

Update to this, squad as at 02/07/24:
Premier League (homegrown) (minimum eight)
1. Martinez, 2. Sinisalo, 3. Cash, 4. Konsa, 5. Mings, 6. Chambers, 7. Kesler-Hayden, 8. Hause, 9. Maatsen, 10. Ramsey, 11. Barkley, 12. Watkins, 13. Rogers, 14. Archer,
Premier League (non-homegrown) (maximum seventeen)
1. Gauci, 2. Olsen, 3. Diego Carlos, 4. Digne, 5. Pau Torres, 6. Alex Moreno, 7. McGinn, 8. Tielemans, 9. Buendia, 10. Coutinho, 11. Dendoncker, 12. Kamara, 13. Barrenechea, 14. Diaby, 15. Bailey
U21's (everyone else including:) (born after 01/01/03) (do not have to be registered)
1. Nedeljkovic, 2. Iling-Junior, 3. Duran, 4. Dobbin

Champions League: (max 25-man squad)
A List (over 21, at least 3 years trained at club) (minimum four) (if unfulfilled, reduces max 25-man squad)
1. Sinisalo, 2. Kesler-Hayden, 3. Ramsey, 4. Archer
A List (at least 3 years trained at association club) (minimum four)
1. Martinez, 2. Cash, 3. Konsa, 4. Mings, 5. Chambers, 6. Hause, 7. Maatsen, 8. Sousa, 9. Barkley, 10. Watkins, 11. Rogers, 12. Dobbin
A List (rest of the squad) (maximum seventeen)
1. Gauci, 2. Olsen, 3. Diego Carlos, 4. Digne, 5. Pau Torres, 6. Alex Moreno, 7. Nedeljkovic, 8. Iling-Junior, 9. McGinn, 10. Tielemans, 11. Buendia, 12. Coutinho, 13. Dendoncker, 14. Kamara, 15. Barrenechea, 16. Diaby, 17. Duran, 18. Bailey
B List (born after 01/01/03, have been at club for 24+ months) (unlimited)
All the youth players such Marschall, Feeney, O'Reilly etc.

Premier League registration rules seem pretty easy to pass at the moment, but a good bit of work to be done with the Champions League squad. Quite a few players are needed to be loaned out or sold.

 

[MrBlack]

2 hours ago, Ceemo said:

Champions League: (max 25-man squad)
A List (over 21, at least 3 years trained at club) (minimum four) (if unfulfilled, reduces max 25-man squad)
1. Sinisalo, 2. Kesler-Hayden, 3. Ramsey, 4. Archer
A List (at least 3 years trained at association club) (minimum four)
1. Martinez, 2. Cash, 3. Konsa, 4. Mings, 5. Chambers, 6. Hause, 7. Maatsen, 8. Sousa, 9. Barkley, 10. Watkins, 11. Rogers, 12. Dobbin
A List (rest of the squad) (maximum seventeen)
1. Gauci, 2. Olsen, 3. Diego Carlos, 4. Digne, 5. Pau Torres, 6. Alex Moreno, 7. Nedeljkovic, 8. Iling-Junior, 9. McGinn, 10. Tielemans, 11. Buendia, 12. Coutinho, 13. Dendoncker, 14. Kamara, 15. Barrenechea, 16. Diaby, 17. Duran, 18. Bailey
B List (born after 01/01/03, have been at club for 24+ months) (unlimited)
All the youth players such Marschall, Feeney, O'Reilly etc.

To convert this to a friendly "what would we likely see with our current players":

Champions League: (max 25-man squad)

A List - Association trained (at least 3 years trained at association club) (minimum four)
1. Martinez,

2. Cash

3. Konsa,

4. Mings,

5. Rogers

6. Maatsen,

7. Barkley,

8. Watkins,

A List (rest of the squad) (maximum seventeen)

9. Diaby,

10. Bailey

11. Gauci or Olsen

12. Diego Carlos,

13. Digne or Moreno

14. Pau Torres,

15. Nedeljkovic,

16. Iling-Junior,

17. McGinn,

18. Tielemans,

19. Buendia,

20. Kamara,

21. Barrenechea,

A List - Club Trained (over 21, at least 3 years trained at club) (minimum four) (if unfulfilled, reduces max 25-man squad)
1. Sinisalo, 2. Kesler-Hayden, 3. Ramsey, 4. Archer

B List (born after 01/01/03, have been at club for 24+ months) (unlimited)

All the youth players such Marschall, Feeney, O'Reilly etc.

 

Currently in our squad but not named due to likelihood of departure or loan..

Sousa

Hause

Chambers 

Coutinho,

Dendoncker,

Duran

Dobbin

 

Whilst we have plenty or room for maneuver between signing foreigners and selling association trained players, we actually don't have much space for new players without letting some favourites go or dropping someone who would take it as a snub. 

The key challenge with the current squad is that we lack a backup striker, unless we think Archer can do the job.

It also means one of Digne or Moreno has to be sold, or Iling Jr has to be left out the squad. I'd guess we overcome this by leaving Kamara out for the first half of the competition given he'll be injured for nearly all of it, and then naming both Digne and Moreno unless we sell one of them. 

Beyond that, it's one out one in from the people I've included which is a pretty crazy prospect. 

I'd say Carlos and Cash, are the likely ones we'll sell and be able to replace in the squad with a key player (Luiz replacement + a.n.other).  That a.n.other has to be a right back if we sell Cash, unless Ned is up to it, or it has to be Duran or his replacement. 

Mings may not be named if he hasn't proved his fitness at the start of the season, and may give us another slot. To get both our backup striker and replacement right back in the squad.

Edited July 2 by MrBlack
I changed it a lot because I'd made some errors, re read it if you think I was previously talking rubbish

[AndFos]

Good job, Nedeljkovic unlikely to be listed in CL I would think, maybe even Iling Jr?

[Villaphan04]

If we activate the buyback clause on Philogene and he returns, how much room would our PL squad have for incomings?

[MrBlack]

5 hours ago, Villaphan04 said:

If we activate the buyback clause on Philogene and he returns, how much room would our PL squad have for incomings?

I don't think we have any.

Caveat: I'm not as clued up on the PL rules as the champs league, but I think it basically means we'd have to be selling Diaby. Or maybe even Ramsey. We're too overloaded in that area of the pitch if we sign him back. 

In the champs league, he replaces KKH or Archer. In the PL, I've no idea who he could replace without us having sell whoever it is he replaces.

[Villaphan04]

2 hours ago, MrBlack said:

I don't think we have any.

Caveat: I'm not as clued up on the PL rules as the champs league, but I think it basically means we'd have to be selling Diaby. Or maybe even Ramsey. We're too overloaded in that area of the pitch if we sign him back. 

In the champs league, he replaces KKH or Archer. In the PL, I've no idea who he could replace without us having sell whoever it is he replaces.

Yeah, that's what my estimation came out to. I don't see how we have any space in the PL squad to register him without a sale, and then that complicates other signings we are going to make. As @Ceemoposted above, we would have 29 people to register in 25 slots. We've loaned out Coutinho. I now would assume we will see one of Sinisalo, Gauci or Olsen depart (transfer or loan), one of Digne or Moreno to depart, and Dendoncker as well. That gets us to 25 without Philogene. Chambers & Archer can leave, but who knows if Chambers will agree to? And if it's Chambers who does leave, we will need another midfielder imo. 

 

Also have to keep in mind, that if we do sell Duran, we will likely need a slot for a backup striker (and not sure if he takes one up currently)

[tomav84]

does Iling-Junior definitely not count as association trained? he joined the chelsea academy when he was 8

edit: i imagine kamara won't be registered, at least until after the new year. imagine any other new signings would take his and/or ned's places

Edited July 11 by tomav84

[MrBlack]

1 hour ago, tomav84 said:

does Iling-Junior definitely not count as association trained? he joined the chelsea academy when he was 8

edit: i imagine kamara won't be registered, at least until after the new year. imagine any other new signings would take his and/or ned's places

Not sure it matters if Iling-Junior does count or not..we've got plenty who do to allow us the maximum squad sizes in both competitions for that particular limitation.  It's the club trained angle we're struggling for in the CL and the total number of players in the PL.

Focusing on the PL squad ...

 

Premier League (homegrown) (minimum eight)

1. Martinez, 2. Sinisalo, 3. Cash, 4. Konsa, 5. Mings, 6. Chambers, 7. Kesler-Hayden, 8. Hause, 9. Maatsen, 10. Ramsey, 11. Barkley, 12. Watkins, 13. Rogers, 14. Archer,

Premier League (non-homegrown) (maximum seventeen)

1. Gauci, 2. Olsen, 3. Diego Carlos, 4. Digne, 5. Pau Torres, 6. Alex Moreno, 7. McGinn, 8. Tielemans, 9. Buendia, 10. Coutinho, 11. Dendoncker, 12. Kamara, 13. Barrenechea, 14. Diaby, 15. Bailey

U21's (everyone else including:) (born after 01/01/03) (do not have to be registered)
1. Nedeljkovic, 2. Iling-Junior, 3. Duran, 4. Dobbin

 

My estimation is:

Sell/don't register the 5 bold players above who won't be missed, leaving us 1 space in the PL squad for new signings. (24 players registered)

 

- sign Philogene (25)

- sell Cash (24)

- sign RB/CB (I think konsa will continue to rotate in the RB position and also that Ned will surprise everyone with how quick he establishes himself in the first team so probably more likely to be a CB, or a CB/RB hybrid possibly) (25)

- sell Moreno  (24) (LB covered by Digne and Maatsen)

- sign striker (25)

- sell Duran (still 25 as he wouldn't need to be registered anyway).

- loan DM in and don't register Kamara until January (25)

Edited July 11 by MrBlack

[Ceemo]

Updated squad at 12/07/24
(Philogene in, Coutinho & Chambers out)
Premier League: (max 25 man squad, unlimited U21's)
Homegrown: minimum eight
1. Martinez, 2. Sinisalo, 3. Cash, 4. Konsa, 5. Mings, 6. Kesler-Hayden, 7. Hause, 8. Maatsen, 9. Ramsey, 10. Barkley, 11. Watkins, 12. Rogers, 13. Archer, 14. Philogene
Non-homegrown: maximum seventeen
1. Gauci, 2. Olsen, 3. Diego Carlos, 4. Digne, 5. Pau Torres, 6. Alex Moreno, 7. McGinn, 8. Tielemans, 9. Buendia, 10. Dendoncker, 11. Kamara, 12. Barrenechea, 13. Diaby, 14. Bailey
U21's (everyone else including:) (born after 01/01/03) (do not have to be registered)
1. Nedeljkovic, 2. Iling-Junior, 3. Duran, 4. Dobbin, 5. Sousa

Champions League: (max 25-man squad, unlimited B List players)
A List (over 21, at least 3 years trained at club) (minimum four) (if unfulfilled, reduces max 25-man squad)
1. Sinisalo, 2. Kesler-Hayden, 3. Ramsey, 4. Archer, 5. Philogene
A List (at least 3 years trained at association club) (minimum four)
1. Martinez, 2. Cash, 3. Konsa, 4. Mings, 5. Hause, 6. Maatsen, 7. Sousa, 8. Barkley, 9. Watkins, 10. Rogers, 11. Dobbin
A List (rest of the squad) (maximum seventeen)
1. Gauci, 2. Olsen, 3. Diego Carlos, 4. Digne, 5. Pau Torres, 6. Alex Moreno, 7. Nedeljkovic, 8. Iling-Junior, 9. McGinn, 10. Tielemans, 11. Buendia, 12. Dendoncker, 13. Kamara, 14. Barrenechea, 15. Diaby, 16. Duran, 17. Bailey
B List (born after 01/01/03, have been at club for 24+ months) (unlimited)
All the youth players such as Feeney, Munroe etc.

So Philogene coming back does make him a club trained player which is important for Champions League purposes. Now have 5 which opens the door for letting at least one go.

Expect more out with Hause being released, Dendoncker, Digne/Alex Moreno/Duran possibly leaving and perhaps it seems maybe Diaby too.

My understanding of UEFA rules is that a player has to be at a similar association club for 3 years between 15-21 or 24 uninterrupted months at their new club before they turn 21. Iling-Junior was at Chelsea until 17 and then joined Juventus where he has been for 3+ years so I believe that for UEFA purposes he is essentially an Italian trained-player. I think that under Premier League rules however that Iling-Junior would be seen as homegrown once he turns 21.

[Dillon66]

Just go with ;

Spinksy

Birchy

Alan McInally

 

They'll do us fine...

Edited July 13 by Dillon66

[CVByrne]

8 hours ago, Ceemo said:

Updated squad at 12/07/24
(Philogene in, Coutinho & Chambers out)
Premier League: (max 25 man squad, unlimited U21's)
Homegrown: minimum eight
1. Martinez, 2. Sinisalo, 3. Cash, 4. Konsa, 5. Mings, 6. Kesler-Hayden, 7. Hause, 8. Maatsen, 9. Ramsey, 10. Barkley, 11. Watkins, 12. Rogers, 13. Archer, 14. Philogene
Non-homegrown: maximum seventeen
1. Gauci, 2. Olsen, 3. Diego Carlos, 4. Digne, 5. Pau Torres, 6. Alex Moreno, 7. McGinn, 8. Tielemans, 9. Buendia, 10. Dendoncker, 11. Kamara, 12. Barrenechea, 13. Diaby, 14. Bailey
U21's (everyone else including:) (born after 01/01/03) (do not have to be registered)
1. Nedeljkovic, 2. Iling-Junior, 3. Duran, 4. Dobbin, 5. Sousa

Champions League: (max 25-man squad, unlimited B List players)
A List (over 21, at least 3 years trained at club) (minimum four) (if unfulfilled, reduces max 25-man squad)
1. Sinisalo, 2. Kesler-Hayden, 3. Ramsey, 4. Archer, 5. Philogene
A List (at least 3 years trained at association club) (minimum four)
1. Martinez, 2. Cash, 3. Konsa, 4. Mings, 5. Hause, 6. Maatsen, 7. Sousa, 8. Barkley, 9. Watkins, 10. Rogers, 11. Dobbin
A List (rest of the squad) (maximum seventeen)
1. Gauci, 2. Olsen, 3. Diego Carlos, 4. Digne, 5. Pau Torres, 6. Alex Moreno, 7. Nedeljkovic, 8. Iling-Junior, 9. McGinn, 10. Tielemans, 11. Buendia, 12. Dendoncker, 13. Kamara, 14. Barrenechea, 15. Diaby, 16. Duran, 17. Bailey
B List (born after 01/01/03, have been at club for 24+ months) (unlimited)
All the youth players such as Feeney, Munroe etc.

So Philogene coming back does make him a club trained player which is important for Champions League purposes. Now have 5 which opens the door for letting at least one go.

Expect more out with Hause being released, Dendoncker, Digne/Alex Moreno/Duran possibly leaving and perhaps it seems maybe Diaby too.

My understanding of UEFA rules is that a player has to be at a similar association club for 3 years between 15-21 or 24 uninterrupted months at their new club before they turn 21. Iling-Junior was at Chelsea until 17 and then joined Juventus where he has been for 3+ years so I believe that for UEFA purposes he is essentially an Italian trained-player. I think that under Premier League rules however that Iling-Junior would be seen as homegrown once he turns 21.

For Europe best way to think about it is 17 + 4 Association trained players  + 4 Club trained players

So we have plenty in the first two so we'll have a base squad of 21 players. Then we can add JJ and Philogene. If KKH or Archer remain they can be added too but I expect they won't be here. Then we will have an U21 GK as our 3rd keeper most likely Zych. 

So a squad of essentially 24 players (3 GKs) and then our general qualifying u21s who will never actually feature. 

[MaVilla]

a bit complicated.....does this look close!? (would be a 24 man UCL squad)

I cant see anyone else who would qualify for the A-List Club trained?

Edited August 8 by MaVilla

[mikeyp102]

16 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

a bit complicated.....does this look close!? (would be a 24 man UCL squad)

I cant see anyone else who would qualify for the A-List Club trained?

I’d say there is less than 10% chance that Olsen won’t be registered.