Rio Ngumoha included but major star omitted as Liverpool announce Champions League squad.

Rio Ngumoha Included as Federico Chiesa Misses Out on Liverpool’s Champions League Squad

Liverpool have officially submitted their squad for the group stage of the Champions League, and one major name is notably missing.

Manager Arne Slot has selected 22 players for the competition, who will be eligible to play in Europe until January. These players are registered on UEFA’s ‘List A’, which can hold up to 25 names but must include at least eight ‘locally trained’ players—those who spent three years at a club in the same country between the ages of 15 and 21.

Who Made the Squad?

The final list had to be submitted by 11pm UK time last night and has now been made public via UEFA.com. The 22-man squad includes:

Alisson Becker, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Freddie Woodman, Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Milos Kerkez, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, Andy Robertson, Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexander Isak, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Hugo Ekitike, and Rio Ngumoha.

Among them are eight of the club’s summer signings: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Kerkez, Leoni, Frimpong, Wirtz, Isak, and Ekitike. Despite his young age, 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha is also listed, as he doesn’t qualify for the homegrown exemption due to only joining Liverpool last year.

Chiesa Left Out

The most surprising omission is Federico Chiesa, who misses out due to the UEFA cap of 17 non-homegrown players. Despite likely being a difficult decision for Slot, the Italian international won’t be eligible for Champions League matches until at least February.

Chiesa had limited playing time in his first season at Anfield but has featured off the bench in all three Premier League games so far this campaign, even scoring in the opening fixture against Bournemouth. Now, he’ll have to rely on league and domestic cup appearances to make his mark in the coming months.

His exclusion may serve as motivation to earn a spot in the squad for the knockout stages, should Liverpool progress as expected.