CHELSEA have left a new signing out of their Champions League squad – just days after he said how excited he was to have the opportunity to play in the competition.
Argentinian attacking midfielder Facundo Buonanotte was bought in on loan from Brighton for the season as cover for Cole Palmer, who is sidelined with a groin issue.
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Buonanotte said when he signed: “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 when he was left off the UEFA A list for Chelsea’s league phase fixtures, which start at Bayern Munich on September 17.
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.
Chelsea 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 No49 for the Blues.
This is thanks to their 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.
Buanotte is not eligible for the B list either, with only Tyrique George, Romeo Lavia and Josh Acheampong named there.
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.
“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.”
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Buonanotte, while born in December 2004, has obviously not played for Chelsea for an uninterrupted period of two years, and has also only been at 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 11pm GMT on February 5, 2026.
Liverpool and Tottenham also named their Champions League squads, with a fair few surprises in those, too.
Spurs left out £30m signing Mathys Tel, while the Reds ditched Federico Chiesa.
Chelsea Champions League squad
Chelsea List A:
Goalkeepers: Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen
Defenders: Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Malo Gusto, Reece James, Jorrel Hato
Midfielders: Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Dario Essugo, Andrey Santos, Estevao, Jamie Gittens, Alejandro Garnacho, Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto
Attackers: Liam Delap,, Joao Pedro, Marc Guiu
List B: Tyrique George, Romeo Lavia, Josh Acheampong.
