Chelsea manager Graham Potter faces a huge decision over which January signings will make his Champions League squad ahead of their forthcoming round-of-16 tie.
The Blues topped Group E ahead of AC Milan, RB Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb to punch their ticket to the Champions League knockout stages.
Potter’s men will travel to the Westfalenstadion on 15th February for their first-leg last-16 clash against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
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Chelsea co-owner and chairman Todd Boehly opened the Premier League club’s war chest to continue the Blues’ lavish spending spree in the January transfer window.
The Blues hijacked Arsenal’s sensational move for Mykhailo Mudryk and also reinforced with the loan signing of Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid.
Chelsea snapped up Benoit Badiashile from Monaco, Noni Madueke from PSV, Malo Gusto from Lyon, Andrey Santos from Vasco and David Datro Fofana from Molde.
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The club’s January spending spree culminated with their sensational £107m British record transfer of 2022 World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez from Benfica.
Despite the plethora of new signings, Chelsea will only be able to register three of their new players for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
UEFA’s rules require a club to register all of their new transfers on List A before the set 2nd February deadline, which will cap Chelsea’s squad list to 25 players.
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Chelsea submitted a 24-man list ahead of their Group E matches in the Champions League, with Potter left with only one vacant spot in his squad.
It leaves Chelsea head coach Potter with a real headache with which player will fill the final spot, with Mudryk, Felix, Fernandez and Badiashile all eligible.
Chelsea will then be forced to eject current players who are in the Champions League squad before they can add any more of their January signings to the list.
Both Mudryk and Felix are eligible to appear for Chelsea in the Champions League, despite appearing for Shakhtar Donetsk and Atletico respectively in the tournament.
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It is believed that Potter is likely to leave Fofana and Santos out of his Champions League picks, as well as Madueke receiving the snub from the Chelsea boss.
Homegrown players make up four of the eight ‘association trained players’ that Chelsea need in their Champions League squad.
But Chelsea ‘keeper Marcus Bettinelli and 19-year-old midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka could be axed by Potter.
Armando Broja has been ruled out until the end of the season, but Chelsea are unable to eject him from their list.
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The 21-year-old Chelsea forward, who suffered a cruciate ligament injury against Aston Villa, was previously named on their List B for Under-21 players who have spent several years at the club.
Potter still has the option to remove other senior overseas players who are currently injured, including the likes of Christian Pulisic and Wesley Fofana.
Denis Zakaria, who has been loaned out to Juventus, could also be axed by Potter from the Champions League list due to his current move away from the club.
Topics: Chelsea, Champions League, England, Premier League, Football
Adnan Riaz