Liverpool could be about to offer a Luis Diaz injury hint ahead of naming their Champions League squad for the second half of the season.
The Colombian hasn’t played for the Reds since being forced off with a knee injury in their defeat to Arsenal back in early October. And although he returned to training in December during Liverpool’s mid-season training camp in Dubai, the winger would complain of discomfort in the joint, before later undergoing surgery.
At the time the 26-year-old was reportedly set to be sidelined until March. With the Reds remaining guarded regarding when they hope to see Diaz return, especially off the back of his previous setback, it remains to be seen if such an estimate proves to be accurate.
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Either way, he will certainly miss Liverpool’ Champions League round of 16 first leg clash with Real Madrid at Anfield on February 21, and is likely to still be a doubt for the second leg at the Bernabeu on March 15.
The Reds left Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita out of their Champions League squad for the first half of the season because of injury, though both returned to training before the end of the group-stages. As a result, it’s plausible that Jurgen Klopp could take a similar decision regarding Diaz, depending on how well his recovery is going behind the scenes.
“Diogo (Jota), Bobby (Firmino) and Virgil (van Dijk), a couple of weeks before they can join training and then we have to see how quickly it goes from there,” Klopp told reporters when offering his latest injury update at his pre-match press conference ahead of Liverpool’s FA Cup trip to Brighton last week. “It will take another couple of weeks, I think.
“Luis (Diaz) takes longer. He (Arthur Melo) is pretty good. He is running a lot. For him as well, two or three weeks maybe until he can join team training. But it looks good, for a while already. After a long injury he needs a proper build-up. He was not part of team training."
How long exactly remains to be seen. But if Diaz is included in Liverpool’s squad, we can assume his recovery is going well enough to take part in the Champions League again this season and he's potentially on track to feature in Madrid.
However, if not Diaz, the Reds will still need to leave out senior players from their squad from the first half of the season after signing Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven, and if they wish to reinstate Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita, with clubs allowed to name a maximum of three new players in their squad at the mid-season point.
Klopp named a 24-man squad for this season’s group-stages, with Liverpool not boasting enough club-trained players to name a full 25-man squad, With that still remaining the case, up to three players are set to be left out.
With their European squad set to be submitted by 24:00 CET on February 2, we take a look at who could miss out..
Stefan Bajcetic 'drops out' - but is still available
First things, first. Stefan Bajcetic is highly likely to be left out of Liverpool’s 24-man squad to make room for Gakpo. The midfielder made three appearances in the group-stages and has established himself as first-choice in midfield in recent weeks.
But while he will drop out, that won’t mean he is ineligible to feature for the Reds in Europe in 2023. As an 18-year-old, Bajcetic is young enough to be registered as a ‘List B’ player, and therefore still be selected without being included in their 25-man squad. However, despite being the right age, he wasn’t eligible for the list in the summer.
UEFA rules state: “A player may be registered on List B if he is born on, or after, 1 January 2001 and has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday by the time he is registered with UEFA – or for a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year. Players aged 16 may be submitted if they have been registered with the club for the previous two years without interruption.”
Bajcetic joined Liverpool from Celta Vigo in December 2020. As a result, he has now fulfilled an uninterrupted period of two years at Anfield to be registered on List B.
Meanwhile, Kaide Gordon could also be included on the list for the first time after signing from Derby County in February 2021. However, the likes of teenagers Ben Doak and Bobby Clark have not yet been on the club’s books long enough to be named on List B.
As a result, they are ineligible to play in the Champions League unless they are included in Klopp’s 25-man squad. This is why summer signings Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay are both currently registered in the squad despite both being under the age of 21.
Three new players included?
So Bajcetic out, Gakpo in. Liverpool have their maximum 24-man squad, everyone’s happy, job’s a good’un. Or is it?
Well after injuries saw Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain both left out of the squad for the first half of the season, they will either be left out once again or restored at the expense of two others next month. If both are added, a couple of senior players will be facing disappointment.
Who else gets left out?
So we know Bajcetic will be one player to drop out with minimum hassle. With Gakpo taking his place, Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain are currently the two senior players set to miss out.
However, there are alternatives. Klopp could opt to leave out Ramsay, with injuries limiting him to just two appearances for Liverpool so far, and Joe Gomez and James Milner both capable of playing right-back.
Fifth choice centre-back Nat Phillips is also an option to be left out, though homegrown rules mean Oxlade-Chamberlain would have to fill his place if he was withdrawn otherwise the Reds’ squad would be limited further to 23 players if they didn’t sign a qualifying player. Meanwhile, recent injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate could rule such a decision out.
Having made just one 13-minute appearance for Liverpool because of injury, Juventus loanee Arthur Melo could also be left out despite the Brazilian closing in on a return to training. Alternatively, Diaz could be left out because of his knee injury if the Reds take a calculated, short-term gamble.
Goalkeeping loophole
There is a loophole for Klopp to consider, however. He could leave out third-choice goalkeeper Adrian to make room for all his senior outfield players instead.
Clubs are required to include at least two goalkeepers on List A and at least three in total (List A and List B combined), so it is possible that the German could leave out the Spaniard and call upon youngster Harvey Davies to make up numbers behind Alisson and Caoimhin Kelleher instead.
Such a decision would be a gamble, but it could be one worth taking as if Liverpool found themselves in a situation where they regretted leaving out Adrian, UEFA rules could actually permit them to make a temporary change. That’s because if a club cannot count on the services of at least two goalkeepers registered on List A because of long-term injury or illness (i.e. one that lasts 30 days), they can temporarily replace him at any time during the season.
As a result, if Alisson or Kelleher were missing because of injury or suspension, it is plausible that the Reds could then call-up Adrian despite leaving him out of their squad at the end of January.
Homegrown players
While teams are allowed to name a 25-man squad for the Champions League, eight of those 25 places are reserved exclusively for 'locally trained players'. If a club has fewer than eight locally trained players in their squad, then the maximum number of players on List A is reduced accordingly as has previously been mentioned.
There are two categories of ‘locally trained players’ - club-trained players and association-trained players.
Club-trained players are players who were on a club's books for three years between the ages of 15 and 21, while association-trained players are players who were on another club's books in the same association for three years between the ages of 15 and 21. However, no club can have more than four association-trained players among their eight 'local' nominees on List A.
Liverpool currently only possess three club-trained players in Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, and Caoimhin Kelleher. Their current four association-trained players are James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Fabio Carvalho, and Nat Phillips.
While Oxlade-Chamberlain would be an eighth homegrown player, the Reds would still not possess the fourth required club-trained player to name a full 25-man squad. Still limited to 24 players as a result, Liverpool could include the midfielder in place of one of the aforementioned quartet or name him alongside such players without filling the full ‘local’ nominees quota.
List B players
Harvey Davies, Isaac Mabaya, Luke Chambers, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Dominic Corness, and Melkamu Frauendorf were all named on List B for the first half of the season. Bajcetic is set to be added to the list, while Gordon could potentially be included also.
Liverpool can add further youngsters to List B as the season goes on, providing ‘he is born on, or after, 1 January 2001 and has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday by the time he is registered with UEFA – or for a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year.’
When do Liverpool have to name their squad?
Ahead of the round-of-16, clubs can register a maximum of three new players by 24:00 CET on February 2.
Potential Liverpool Champions League squad
Goalkeepers: Alisson Becker, Adrian, Caoimhin Kelleher (club-trained).
Defenders: Joe Gomez (club-trained), Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Kostas Tsimikas, Andy Robertson, Joel Matip, Nat Phillips (association-trained), Trent Alexander-Arnold (club-trained).
Midfielders: Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara, James Milner (association-trained), Naby Keita, Jordan Henderson (association-trained), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (association-trained).
Forwards: Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho (association-trained).
List B players: Harvey Davies, Isaac Mabaya, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Stefan Bajcetic, Dominic Corness, Kaide Gordon, Melkamu Frauendorf.
Players added to List A: Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Cody Gakpo.
Players potentially removed from List A: Calvin Ramsay, Arthur Melo, and Stefan Bajcetic.
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