Arsenal Training
Arsenal Training
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Young players who join a club on a free transfer and immediately impress in under-21 fixtures can still find European matches closed to them. Training sessions with the first-team squad do not automatically translate into eligibility for the Champions League. A little-known registration rule determines who can be added once the main squad list has been submitted.
Those born after a certain date can be included on a secondary list if they have spent a continuous period at the club since their mid-teens. Arrival in the summer means the required time has not been completed. The restriction applies even when teammates of a similar age are able to feature through the same mechanism.
Domestic cup ties therefore become the more realistic route towards senior minutes. Opportunities against lower-league opposition in the coming weeks offer a clearer path. European involvement remains unavailable until later changes to the primary list are permitted.
James Scanlon cannot face Bayern Munich in the Champions League because he is ineligible under UEFA rules, according to The Standard. The 20-year-old joined Arsenal from Manchester United in the summer on a free transfer that included a significant sell-on clause.
Scanlon has scored three goals in four Premier League 2 appearances for the Under-21s and has trained with Mikel Arteta’s first team on several occasions. He was one of the few academy players included in the final training session before the Lille match. He has not yet made a matchday squad, while teenagers Maalik Hashi and Ceadach O’Neil were on the bench against Lille.
Scanlon was not among the 22 players named on Arsenal’s A List for the league phase. Hashi and O’Neil have been added through the B List, which allows young players not featured on the main list to be registered the night before each match. UEFA rules state: “A player may be registered on List B if he is born on, or after, January 1 2004, and has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday, or for a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year.”
Because Scanlon only joined in the summer, he does not meet the requirement. He will remain unavailable for every Champions League fixture until at least February, when clubs can register a maximum of three new players for the knockout stages. Arsenal’s final league-phase match against Sabah in January, which could be a dead rubber, will not be an option for him.
The Carabao Cup trip to Fleetwood next week offers a more immediate route towards senior involvement. Scanlon will continue to train with the first team when selected, but European matches stay out of reach for now. His path into Arteta’s plans runs through domestic competitions until the A List can be altered.