Liverpool have submitted their Champions League squad for the knockout stages – and while Conor Bradley will not play, UEFA red tape blocked any replacement.
Liverpool’s Champions League Squad: Why Bradley Wasn’t Replaced
No replacements: Despite a season-ending injury to Conor Bradley, Liverpool have named an unchanged squad as they lack eligible ‘locally trained’ replacements.
Ramsay ineligible: Calvin Ramsay cannot replace Bradley because he does not meet UEFA’s Association Trained criteria, having developed in Scotland rather than England.
Youth restrictions: Winter signings Noah Adekoya and Mor Talla Ndiaye are ineligible for List B registration as they have not yet completed two years at the club.
Bradley has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering a serious knee injury, joining Giovanni Leoni and Alexander Isak on the long-term absentee list.
It means the right-back will play no part in Liverpool’s push for Champions League football next season, with one of their routes being to win the tournament outright.
Ahead of a last-16 tie against one of Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray or Club Brugge, the club were required to submit an updated squad for the knockout stages.
But Liverpool have made no changes to the squad available to Arne Slot, with Bradley still registered due to rules around locally trained players.
Why can’t Liverpool replace Conor Bradley?
Under UEFA rules, Bradley occupies a mandatory ‘Club Trained’ spot. Removing him without a like-for-like replacement from the academy would require Liverpool to reduce their overall List A squad size.
Club Trained Players on the club’s books for 3 years (36 months) between ages 15-21. UEFA requires four in a 25-man List A.
Association Trained Players on the books of another club in the same FA for 3 years between ages 15-21. Max of four count toward the quota.
The Quota UEFA requires eight locally trained players. If a club has fewer, the maximum size of List A is reduced accordingly.
Similar to in the Premier League, clubs must have at least eight locally trained – otherwise known as homegrown – players to name a full 25-man senior squad.
Of those eight, at least four must be classed as Club Trained while the remainder can be Association Trained, but Liverpool only have five locally trained players of which three, including Bradley himself, are Club Trained.
The obvious replacement for Bradley in a one-in-one-out situation would have been Calvin Ramsay.
Why Liverpool cannot add Calvin Ramsay to their Champions League squad
Liverpool substitute Calvin Ramsay on the bench at Anfield.
However the 22-year-old remains ineligible as he is not classed as locally trained having spent the majority of his development in Scotland – outside of the English FA.
UEFA rules stipulate that a player must be on the books of the club in question for three years between the ages of 15 and 21 to qualify as Club Trained or within the corresponding FA for the same period to qualify as Association Trained.
Ramsay was unable to meet either criteria and therefore would need to take one of the 17 spots reserved for foreign players.
Slot was already forced to leave out Federico Chiesa from his initial Champions League squad for this very reason, though the Italian replaced countryman Leoni upon his season-ending injury.
Liverpool striker Alexander Isak during a pre-match warm-up.
There is no such option for Ramsay, with the only other logical choice being to remove Isak from the list to bolster Slot’s defence.
But clearly there are hopes that Isak will return to fitness and play a part in the latter stages of the Champions League, while Liverpool’s No. 47 would only realistically offer emergency cover at right-back.
Liverpool can still supplement their squad with additions via List B, with an unlimited number of players aged 21 or under (who have been able to play for the club for at least two years) able to be registered before any game.
Winter defensive signings Noah Adekoya and Mor Talla Ndiaye would not be eligible for List B despite being of age, as is the case for Rio Ngumoha and summer arrivals Armin Pecsi and Will Wright.
Liverpool Champions League Squad Knockout Stages 2025/26
Total Squad: 29
List A: 22
Locally Trained: 5 (Target: 8)
Club Trained: 3 (Target: 4)
Position Player Name Registration Notes
GK Alisson List A —
Giorgi Mamardashvili List A —
Freddie Woodman List A Association Trained
Kornel Misciur List B U21
Bailey Hall List B U21
DEF Joe Gomez List A Club Trained
Virgil van Dijk List A —
Ibrahima Konate List A —
Amara Nallo List B U21
Wellity Lucky List B U21
Conor Bradley (Long-Term Injury) List A Club Trained
Milos Kerkez List A —
Jeremie Frimpong List A Association Trained
Andy Robertson List A —
MID Florian Wirtz List A —
Dominik Szoboszlai List A —
Alexis Mac Allister List A —
Ryan Gravenberch List A —
Curtis Jones List A Club Trained
Wataru Endo List A —
Trey Nyoni List B U21
FWD Alexander Isak (Long-Term Injury) List A —
Mohamed Salah List A —
Federico Chiesa List A —
Cody Gakpo List A —
Hugo Ekitike List A —
Kieran Morrison List B U21
Rio Ngumoha List A Reg. requirement
Jayden Danns List B U21
Registration Insight:
List A: The primary 25-man squad. Under UEFA rules, 8 spots are reserved for “locally trained” players (4 must be Club Trained).
List B: Unlimited youth list for players born on/after Jan 1, 2004, who have been at the club for 2+ years.
Rio Ngumoha: Must be registered on List A as he has not yet completed the 2-year club residency required for List B.