Chelsea without Palmer and Fofana, not on UEFA list

This is not a sanction. Chelsea have not registered their English midfielder Cole Palmer or their French defender Wesley Fofana for the Conference League championship phase. Their names are absent from the squad revealed on Thursday 5 September by UEFA. Given their status as regulars in the first few matches, this decision seems to mean that the London club wants to keep them fresh for the Premier League and guarantee playing time to their usual substitutes, as confirmed by the BBC. Romeo Lavia, less prominent, is also absent.

23 names have been entered on Chelsea’s list for the Champions League. The rules state that 25 places are available, provided that four players trained at the club and four other players trained in the rest of the country are registered. In addition, it is not necessary to register players under the age of 23 who have been at the club for more than two years (or three years in the case of a loan in between).

Disasi, Badiashile and Sancho registered

Despite its plethora of players and given Enzo Maresca’s sporting choices, it was clearly not possible to register 25 players. So a decision had to be made. Rather than registering Cole Palmer and Wesley Fofana and ultimately leaving them on the bench against teams with modest profiles such as Noah, Heidenheim, Astana, Shamrock Rovers, Chelsea will count on second-stringers such as Axel Disasi, Benoît Badiashile, Tosin Adarabioyo, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei. None of these substitutes have played a single Premier League match so far, while Cole Palmer and Wesley Fofana were starters for the first three English matches.

Jadon Sancho, who arrived at the last minute of the summer transfer window, has also been registered. Christopher Nkunku is also expected to play on the European stage.

At the end of the championship phase and in the event of qualification for the knockout phase, Chelsea will be able to modify its list with a maximum of three replacements in compliance with the quotas of club-trained and locally trained players.

- RMC Sport