Why Tottenham cannot swap Ben Davies and Brennan Johnson out of Champions Leage squad

Thomas Frank may have been hoping that the New Year would allow him to mix things up with the Tottenham Champions League squad, but that isn’t the case.

In fact, with two league phase games still to go for Tottenham, Frank is currently stuck with a squad that is barely fit for purpose.

Amid all the injuries in the Spurs squad right now, plus players being ineligible, suspended, or away on international duty, Frank is facing a nightmare situation ahead of the game against Borussia Dortmund.

Most notably, it seems ridiculous that Brennan Johnson can’t be replaced in Tottenham’s Champions League squad, while long-term injury Ben Davies is also unable to be removed.

• READ MORE: 20 Tottenham players spotted in Champions League training amid injury crisis

Tottenham must wait to change Champions League squad

The problem is, no matter what happens to a player or within the squad, teams are not allowed to make changes to their Champions League squad until after the league phase is over.

That means that both Johnson and Davies will stay in Tottenham’s squad until the end of this month. Once the game against Frankfurt (on January 28th) is out of the way, Thomas Frank can make changes ahead of the knockout phase, assuming Spurs will be involved, that is.

You might be wondering why Mathys Tel was replaced by Dominic Solanke this week, then? Well, Tel was drafted in earlier in the competition as part of a UEFA rule that allows one long-term injured player to be removed.

Now, with Solanke fit again, Spurs had the choice whether to bring him back in or leave Tel, and it was the Frenchman who missed out.

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What changes will happen for Spurs?

UEFA rules stipulate that three new players can be registered after the league phase. It goes without saying that Conor Gallagher will be one of them, and you’d think Tel will rejoin the squad at that point, too.

Both Radu Dragusin and Yves Bissouma were not chosen initially by Frank. However, with both players potentially set to leave Spurs this month, it’s unclear whether they would be added anyway.

Obviously, a lot will depend on what players Tottenham sign this month, assuming more are still to come. It’s thought that a new winger and another midfielder are the priorities for Spurs, and a place would surely be needed for those new arrivals, too.

It’ll require some difficult decisions from Frank, and it’s highly likely that at least one player will be left unhappy in the end.