Chelsea has made a surprising decision by excluding Cole Palmer from their Europa Conference League squad in an effort to manage their demanding schedule this season.
The club will be participating in five different competitions, including the Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Conference League, and the newly expanded Club World Cup, which starts in June of next year and spans a month. Their qualification for the 2021 Champions League entitles them to compete in these tournaments.
Considering the heavy workload and additional commitments such as international fixtures in the Nations League and qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca and his team have opted to leave Palmer out of the group stage squad. It is worth noting that Palmer recently withdrew from the England squad due to injury.
Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana have been left out due to their injury-plagued seasons in the previous campaign. Despite currently being sidelined with a hamstring injury, Chelsea’s Reece James has been included in the squad. However, Ben Chilwell, another England full-back, was not selected.
The club has chosen to name only 24 players instead of the maximum allowed 25. This decision is a result of recent sales of homegrown players, which have left them with a shortage of club-trained options required by UEFA.
In the meantime, Tottenham has excluded Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon from their roster for the group stage of the Europa League. Ange Postecoglou’s team was required to submit a squad of up to 25 players to Uefa by Wednesday evening, but they were only able to list 23 players due to certain circumstances.
Consequently, Spence, who recently returned to the first team after loan spells at Leeds and Genoa last season, will not be able to participate in European football during the initial part of the campaign.
The absence of Reguilon comes as no surprise, as the Spanish defender is considered surplus to requirements and could still depart, particularly with the Turkish transfer window still open.
Furthermore, Spurs have granted Alfie Devine permission to join Westerlo of the Belgian Pro League on a season-long loan. Devine garnered significant attention this summer following his stints at Port Vale and Plymouth last season. However, no suitable domestic loan arrangement could be secured before England’s transfer deadline at 11pm on Friday.
