Liverpool’s Champions League squad: why Bradley wasn’t replaced
- No substitutions: Despite an injury at the end of the season Conor BradleyLiverpool have named an unchanged squad as there are no suitable ‘locally trained’ replacements.
- Ramsay does not qualify: Calvin Ramsay cannot replace Bradley because he does not meet UEFA requirements Association trained criteria, which developed in Scotland rather than England.
- Restrictions for young people: Winter signings Noah Adekoya and Mor Talla Ndiaye are not eligible List B registration because they have not completed two years with the club.
Bradley has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to a serious knee injury, putting him on the long-term absentee list alongside Giovanni Leoni and Alexander Isak.
It means the right-back will play no part in Liverpool’s pursuit of Champions League football next season, with one of their routes being to win the tournament outright.
Prior to a last-16 draw against Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray or Club Brugge, the club had to submit an updated squad for the knockout stages.
But Liverpool made it no changes to the team available for Arne Slot, with Bradley still registered due to rules surrounding locally trained players.
Why can’t Liverpool replace Conor Bradley?
Under UEFA rules, Bradley holds a mandatory position ‘Club trained’ place. If Liverpool were to remove him without a comparable academy replacement, he would have to reduce their overall List A squad.
| club trained | Players who have been on the club’s books for 3 years (36 months), aged between 15 and 21. UEFA requires four in a list A of 25 men. |
| Association trained | Players on the books of another club in the same FA for 3 years aged between 15 and 21. Maximum of four count towards the quota. |
| The quota | UEFA requires eight locally trained players. If a club has fewer, the maximum size of List A will be reduced accordingly. |
As in the Premier League, clubs must have at least eight locally trained – also known as homegrown – players to field a full 25-man senior squad.
Of those eight, at least four must be classified as Club Trained, while the rest can be Association Trained, but Liverpool only have five of which locally trained players threeincluding Bradley himself, his Club Trained.
The obvious replacement for Bradley in a one-in-one-out situation would have been Calvin Ramsay.
Why Liverpool can’t add Calvin Ramsay to their Champions League squad
However, the 22-year-old remains ineligible as is not classified as locally trained having spent most of his development in Scotland – outside the English FA.
UEFA rules state that a player aged between 15 and 21 must be on the books of the relevant club for three years to qualify as Club Trained or within the corresponding FA for the same period to qualify as Association Trained.
Ramsay could not meet either criteria and would therefore have to take one of the 17 places reserved for foreign players.
Slot was already forced to leave Federico Chiesa out of his initial Champions League squad for this reason, although the Italian replaced compatriot Leoni after his season-ending injury.
No such option exists for Ramsay, with the only other logical choice being to remove Isak from the roster to shore up Slot’s defenses.
But there is clearly hope that Isak will return to fitness and play a role in the latter stages of the Champions League, while Liverpool’s number 47 would realistically only provide emergency cover at right-back.
Liverpool can still supplement its squad with additions via List B, with an unlimited number of players aged 21 or under (who have played for the club for at least two years) able to register before each match.
Defensive signings in the winter Noah Adekoya And Mor Talla Nda would not be eligible for list B despite being of age, as is the case Ngumoha River and summer arrivals Armin Pecsi And Will Wright.
Liverpool Champions League Knockout Stage Squad 2025/26
List A: 22
Locally trained: 5 (Target: 8)
Club trained: 3 (Goal: 4)
| Position | Player Name | Registration | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Alisson | List A | — |
| Giorgi Mamardashvili | List A | — | |
| Freddie Houtman | List A | Association trained | |
| Colonel Misciur | List B | U21 | |
| Bailey Hall | List B | U21 | |
| DEF | Joe Gomes | List A | club trained |
| Virgil van Dijk | List A | — | |
| Ibrahima Konate | List A | — | |
| Amar Nallo | List B | U21 | |
| Well-being Happy | List B | U21 | |
| Conor Bradley (Long-term injury) | List A | club trained | |
| Milos Kerkez | List A | — | |
| Jeremy Frimpong | List A | Association trained | |
| Andy Robertson | List A | — | |
| MIDDLE | Florian Wirtz | List A | — |
| Dominik Szoboszlai | List A | — | |
| Alexis MacAllister | List A | — | |
| Ryan Gravenberch | List A | — | |
| Curtis Jones | List A | club trained | |
| Wataru Endo | List A | — | |
| Trey Nyoni | List B | U21 | |
| Come on | Alexander Isaac (Long-term injury) | List A | — |
| Muhammad Salah | List A | — | |
| Federico Chiesa | List A | — | |
| Cody Agat | List A | — | |
| Hugo Ekitike | List A | — | |
| Kieran Morrison | List B | U21 | |
| Ngumoha River | List A | Reg. requirement | |
| Jayden dance | List B | U21 |
- List A: The primary squad of 25 men. According to UEFA rules, 8 spots are reserved for “locally trained” players (4 must be club trained).
- List B: Unlimited youth list for players born on/after January 1, 2004, who have been with the club for more than 2 years.
- Ngumoha River: Must be registered on List A as he has not yet completed the two-year club residency required for List B.
#UEFA #rules #BLOCK #Liverpool #replacing #Conor #Bradley