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Federico Chiesa might be given an unexpected lifeline by Arne Slot despite being omitted from Liverpool's Champions League squad. The Dutch manager named a 23-man squad for the league phase of this season's tournament, with the Italian forward notably absent.
The decision to exclude the forward was ultimately forced due to UEFA regulations and Liverpool's last-minute transfer dealings. Slot chose to pick Rio Ngumoha over Chiesa, with the young player needing to occupy one of Liverpool's 17 overseas slots to be eligible for selection, despite being English and only 17 years old.
This is because he does not yet qualify for a homegrown spot or a 'List B' position under UEFA squad rules, as he only joined the club as a 15-year-old from Chelsea last summer.
Meanwhile, if a deadline day move for Marc Guehi had not fallen through, the Reds would have likely included Chiesa in their ranks, leaving out summer signing Giovanni Leoni - who is also not eligible to be registered on Liverpool's list of Under-21s players.
However, with Slot requiring an additional center-back option after missing out on the England international, he made the tough decision to leave out Chiesa.
Ahead of the Burnley match, the Reds boss confessed that the forward was not pleased with his decision to omit him from the Champions League squad, although Slot did commend Chiesa for his overall response.
"Of course that is one of the most difficult things you have to do as a manager," he said. "For a player not to play, it is not always easy to tell them but not to be in the squad is always more difficult.
"I just explained to him why we made this choice. Of course he wasn't happy with that. I think he understood my arguments - that is not to say he agreed with them. He didn't tell me, by the way, that he didn't agree with them!".
"But he gave me the answer you want to hear from a player, that he will be there to help the team in the cups and in the league.
"That's one thing to say but I think he also showed this because he wasn't selected but he worked really hard these days to be ready for the upcoming days. That is even more important than what a player tells you."
Chiesa remains available for selection against Burnley this weekend, having appeared as a substitute in each of Liverpool's three Premier League matches thus far this campaign.
Nevertheless, he will be absent from the Reds' European opener against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday evening after being omitted from Slot's continental squad.
Yet simply because Chiesa finds himself excluded from Liverpool's European roster at present doesn't necessarily mean he won't contribute to this season's Champions League campaign.
Due to a late regulation amendment from UEFA, Slot will actually be granted two windows to modify his Champions League squad throughout the season - with the first potentially allowing Chiesa to still feature during the league phase. UEFA have implemented changes to their registration regulations which will allow clubs to make one alteration to their squad during the league phase in response to long-term injury or illness.
Following a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee on Thursday, the governing body announced: "The Executive Committee approved an amendment to the 2025/26 UEFA men's club competitions' regulations to admit the temporary replacement of a maximum of one outfield player with long-term injury or illness during the league phase until matchday six included.
"The reasoning for the adaptation is to ensure that squad lists are not unfairly reduced and players are safeguarded from additional workload pressure."
As a consequence, should one of Liverpool's 17 foreign players sustain a long-term injury or illness up to the club's sixth Champions League league phase fixture away to Inter Milan on December 9, Slot would be permitted to temporarily promote Chiesa in their stead.
Additionally, clubs will continue to be able to make a maximum of three alterations to their squad in February prior to the knockout phase.
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