Chelsea's Guiu eligible for EFL Cup after mix-up

1 hour ago 14

ByJonty Colman

BBC Sport journalist

Chelsea striker Marc Guiu is eligible to play in the third round of the EFL Cup against Lincoln City on Tuesday because of a change in the rules for this season's tournament.

Guiu is not expected to feature at the LNER Stadium but will be considered for selection by Chelsea in the competition for future rounds if they go through.

It appears Chelsea were unaware of the rule change but sought clarification from the EFL hours before Tuesday's kick-off.

The Spanish forward represented Sunderland in the competition last month, while on loan at the Black Cats.

In previous seasons that would have meant he was not allowed to play for Chelsea in the tournament because he would have been 'cup-tied' - which means you are only allowed to play for one club in a cup competition per season.

But the new rule introduced for this season states players can feature for two clubs in the EFL Cup in the same season.

The 19-year-old was recalled by Chelsea because of an injury to Liam Delap.

Guiu made three appearance for the Black Cats, scoring once in the EFL Cup second-round defeat by League One side Huddersfield Town in August.

Chelsea's resources up front have been depleted, with Delap set to be sidelined until December and Nicolas Jackson joining Bayern Munich on loan, while Joao Pedro has started all six of Chelsea's matches in all competitions this term.

What do the rules say?

By BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team

Introduced at the start of this season, the change to the EFL Cup's rules now permit players to play for two different clubs if they moved between rounds of the competition and within certain periods.

Guiu was officially a Chelsea player when the new season started and the EFL has deemed his return to the Blues as being his one permitted move.

Although Sunderland were not Guiu's parent club in terms of ownership, the EFL has deemed they are the parent club in this scenario as they are who Guiu played for first in the competition.

Rule 6.4 of the EFL Cup says that a registered player shall be permitted to play for up to two clubs in the competition should they meet any of the following criteria:

Has appeared for his parent club in the competition prior to the closure of the summer transfer window and subsequently moved to a different club prior to the end of that transfer window.
Has appeared for his parent club in the competition prior to the closure of the winter transfer window or the first leg of the semi-final and has subsequently moved to a different club before the closure of the winter transfer window or the first leg of the semi-final.
A player joins on an emergency goalkeeper loan.

What is Ask Me Anything?

Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions.

We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.

The team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and pundits.

We will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting events.

Our coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio.