The deadline for submitting squad lists for the Champions League is fast approaching, and AC Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca has some tough decisions to make.
We did a deeper look into Milan’s draw after it was made, while the deadline for submitting the final squad list is tomorrow, with clubs having to send everything to UEFA by midnight on Tuesday. Calciomercato.com have provided a breakdown of Milan’s situation.
The two lists
As a reminder, the list is broken down into List A and List B. For the former, no team can have more than 25 players registered during the season. Of these, at least eight must have come through academies of clubs in the same country and four must have come through Milan’s academy.
To meet these requirements, the player must have spent three seasons in that specific league (first case) or team (second case) – even if not consecutive – between the ages of 15 and 21.
If a club has fewer than eight locally trained players in List A, the maximum number of players who can be included in this list is reduced accordingly (if they are one player short, List A slots are reduced by one etc.).
Each club will have the right to register an unlimited number of players on List B during the season and this particular list must be submitted by midnight on the day of the match in question.
A player can be registered on List B if he was born after 1 January 2003 and, from his 15th birthday, if he is eligible to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of two years or for a total of three years including a loan period of no more than one year.
With regard to goalkeepers, each club must include at least two on List A and at least three in total including List B. If a team cannot have at least two goalkeepers from List A due to injury or long-term illness, they may temporarily replace them at any time during the season. Long-term physical problems are defined as a prognosis of at least 30 days.
If the goalkeeper who is replaced on the list recovers earlier than expected, he must still remain off the list until the end of the 30 days. The return to the list of the goalkeeper who recovers from injury must be communicated to UEFA no later than 24 hours before the match in question.
Where Milan stand
The current prediction is that Milan’s list could be shorter than the 25 available places, because the slots dedicated to players trained in national youth systems are not filled.
Matteo Gabbia and Davide Calabria are the only ones who came through the Milan academy while Marco Sportiello, Filippo Terracciano and Alessandro Florenzi are part of the list of players who came through another Italian academy.
As for the 17 ‘free’ slots, Fonseca will be forced to make a cut and the number one suspect to remain outside the UEFA list is Luka Jovic, destined to make way for the latest arrival Tammy Abraham.
The only factor that could upset Milan’s plans would be the departure of Ismael Bennacer towards Saudi Arabia, where however the transfer market closes today (Monday 2 September) and therefore time is running out.
Already certain of exclusion are Divock Origi and Fodé Ballo-Touré, plus in all likelihood Alex Jimenez will also be left out as he does not meet the requirements to be included in List B despite being born in 2005 (he has not been playing for two years at the club).
Young players from Milan Futuro such as Francesco Camarda and Kevin Zeroli could be included in List B, as well as the goalkeeper Lorenzo Torriani to reach the quota in that position.
Goalkeepers: Maignan, Sportiello.
Defenders: Emerson Royal, Thiaw, Tomori, Pavlovic, Theo Hernandez, Calabria, Florenzi, Gabbia, Terracciano.
Midfielders: Bennacer, Loftus-Cheek, Fofana, Reijnders, Musah, Pulisic, Chukwueze.
Forwards: Leao, Abraham, Okafor, Morata.