Why Liverpool has left Harvey Elliott and Conor Bradley off Champions League squad list

Liverpool has named its squad ahead of its return to the revamped Champions League this season.

The Reds make their return to Europe’s top club competition after a year away, having finished third in last season’s Premier League . They of course make their comeback under new head coach Arne Slot following Jurgen Klopp’s departure in the summer, and will have to get to grips with a new format .

The new setup will see the Reds face eight different opponents during the opening stage , which pits all 36 teams in the same league with the top eight going straight through to the last-16, while the next 16 sides will have to play in an extra knockout round.

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Liverpool is set to host Bologna, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid and Lille at Anfield, while also traveling to AC Milan, RB Leipzig, Girona and PSV Eindhoven during the league phase. Ahead of the first game in Milan on September 17, Slot’s squad for the competition has now been confirmed.

The Reds have announced a 24-man List A squad, although teams can name a maximum of 25, including a minimum of eight places for ‘locally trained players’.

All of the usual suspects make the List A squad, including the likes of Alisson Becker , Virgil van Dijk , Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah . The likes of Harvey Elliott , Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah though are not included.

The three mentioned players are eligible for List A, but do not need to be included due to their ages and club-trained status. Instead, they can be named on List B, which is unlimited in terms of the number of players a club can register during the season, and can be updated before any fixture.

UEFA rules state that any player born on or after January 1, 2003 and has been eligible to play for the club for any uninterrupted period of two years – or a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan to a club from the same association – can be registered on List B. This explains why 17-year-old Trey Nyoni is included in List A, having only joined Liverpool from Leicester City last year.

Should Liverpool progress to the knockout rounds of the Champions League, as expected, it will be able to update List A with three new players by February 6, 2025.

Liverpool List A Champions League squad : Alexander-Arnold, Alisson, Chiesa, Diaz, Endo, Gakpo, Gomez, Gravenberch, Hill, Jaros, Jones, Jota, Kelleher, Konate, Mac Allister, Morton, Nallo, Nunez, Nyoni, Robertson, Salah, Szoboszlai, Tsimikas, Van Dijk.