Federico Chiesa could get Liverpool U-turn after Champions League rule change

Federico Chiesa may be given an unexpected lifeline by Liverpool boss Arne Slot, despite being omitted from the club's Champions League squad. The Dutchman named a 23-man squad for the league phase of this season's tournament, with the Italian forward a shock omission.

The decision to exclude Chiesa was ultimately forced due to UEFA regulations and Liverpool's last-minute transfer dealings. Slot chose to include 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, due to UEFA squad regulations, he does not yet qualify for a homegrown place or spot on 'List B', 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, Liverpool 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 centre-back option after missing out on the England international, he made the tough call to leave out Chiesa.

Ahead of the Burnley match, the Reds boss confessed that the forward was displeased 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."

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Chiesa is available to take on Burnley this weekend and has appeared as a substitute in all three of Liverpool's Premier League matches so far this campaign.

Nevertheless, he will be absent for the Reds' Champions League curtain-raiser against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday evening after being omitted from Slot's squad.

Yet just because Chiesa is not included in Liverpool's European squad at present, that doesn't mean he certainly won't contribute to this season's Champions League.

After a late rule amendment from UEFA, Slot will now actually have two chances to alter his Champions League squad this season - and the first could even allow Chiesa to still feature in the league phase.

UEFA have introduced a change to their registration regulations that 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 stated: "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.

Meanwhile, clubs will continue to be able to make a maximum of three alterations to their squad in February ahead of the knockout phase.

Therefore, Chiesa could still be added to Liverpool's Champions League squad mid-season, though one of the Reds' 17 current foreign players would need to be removed for the Italian to be included. In a hypothetical scenario, should Liverpool reignite their interest in Guehi this January, the Crystal Palace skipper could fill an empty homegrown slot in the Reds' squad, potentially leading to Leoni being dropped to accommodate Chiesa.

Alternatively, the Italian star could replace any of the club's 17 foreign players in case of a severe injury or a January transfer.