Chelsea Manager Graham Potter will have issues playing four of the club’s new signings in the Champions League this season.
When the knockout stage begins this month, Potter will have to inform four of his new Blues that they are not in his Champions League squad.
With the British record deal to bring Argentina star Enzo Fernandez to Stamford Bridge being the cherry on top, Potter has approved a remarkable January spending binge.
The South American joins the likes of Atletico Madrid loanee Joao Felix, English winger Noni Madueke, Ivorian attacker David Datro Fofana.
Other new arrivals are: French defender Benoit Badiashile, Brazilian teenager Andrey Santos, and Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk.
However, according to Uefa’s rules for the Champions League, clubs are only permitted to substitute three senior-list players during the knockout round.
The birth date limit for the “B List” of players who can register to play is January 1, 2001, and Mudryk, Badiashile, Madueke, Fofana, and Santos were all born after that date.
None of them, however, match the secondary requirement of having been registered for two seasons because they have only recently joined the club.
Fernandez, Mudryk, and Joao Felix are the three who appear to have the best chance of making the squad for the round of 16 match against Borussia Dortmund.
That means Potter will need to continue with Trevoh Chalobah, Kalidou Koulibaly, or Cesar Azpilicueta alongside first-choice center-back Thiago Silva unless the injured Wesley Fofana can make a comeback. Potter will be crossing his fingers that there won’t be any more defensive injuries.
Multiple roster changes are permitted by Premier League regulations for the second half of the season, which don’t apply in January.
This means that all new players would be qualified to compete in the league, though Chelsea are still reportedly waiting for Santos’ work permit.
At Stamford Bridge, a significant player left during the January transfer window.
Jorginho, an Italian midfielder, left for league-leaders Arsenal.
Chelsea Full January Transfer List
With eight new arrivals, Chelsea has been the busiest Premier League club in the January transfer window.
After lengthy negotiations with Benfica, Enzo Fernandez, the Blues’ top priority during the January transfer window, was finally signed on the final day of the window for a club record £105 million.
The World Cup champion joins the likes of Malo Gusto, Joao Felix, Benoit Badiashile, David Datro Fofana, Mykhailo Mudryk, Andrey Santos, and Noni Madueke as newcomers to Graham Potter’s team.
Conor Gallagher and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, graduates of Cobham, are still with the club despite late interest in the window.
Potter is receiving strong support from the new Stamford Bridge ownership after making acquisitions of Wesley Fofana, Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, as well as a number of young players.
The Blues are aiming to once again be one of the busiest and most expensive teams, showing that they haven’t taken their success for granted.
Here is a list of everything they finished in January.
Transfers in:
- Enzo Fernandez – £105million, eight-and-a-half-year-contract
- Joao Felix (six-month loan) – £9.7million fee plus 100% wages (no option to buy)
- Mykhailo Mudryk – £88million, seven-and-a-half year contract (option for an extra year)
- Malo Gusto – £26.3million, six-and-a-half-year-contract (loan back to Lyon for remainder of 22/23 season)
- Noni Madueke – £35million, seven-and-a-half year contract (option for an extra year)
- Benoit Badiashile – £33.7million, seven-and-a-half year contract (option for an extra year)
- Andrey Santos – £11million, long-term contract
- David Datro Fofana – £10million, six-and-a-half year contract (option for an extra year)
- Gabriel Slonina – returning loan transfer from Chicago Fire
- Jayden Wareham – returning loan transfer from Leyton Orient
Transfers out:
- Cesare Casadei – on loan at Reading until the end of the season
