Aston Villa have updated their Europa League squad ahead of the knockout rounds.placeholder image
Aston Villa have updated their Europa League squad ahead of the knockout rounds. | Getty Images
All Europa League clubs are allowed to make a maximum of three alterations to their group stage squads
Tournament favourites Aston Villa have made three alterations to their Europa League squad after advancing to the knockout stages of the competition.
Villa finished second out of the 36 teams in the league-phase of the competition, picking up a combined total of 21 points from a possible 24. They secured wins over the likes of Bologna, Feyenoord,Maccabi Tel Aviv, Young Boys, Basel, Fenerbahce and Red Bull Salzburg with their only slip-up coming in a surprise loss to Go Ahead Eagles.
The club are permitted to make three alterations to the squad they submitted for the group stage after a busy January window which was centered around lots of incomings and outgoings.
Aston Villa new signing fails to make Europa League squad as England international misses out
Aston Villa midfielder Ross Barkley has not been named in the team’s Europa League knockout stage squad. The 33-time England international star scored once in the Champions League last season but looks unlikely to play any further role in this competition.
Barkley has struggled with injuries throughout the campaign and has made just eight appearances across all competitions this term.
He did, however, make one appearance in the Europa League group stage despite not originally being named in the squad. This was because of Tyrone Mings being withdrawn from the List A squad due to injury. Each club is permitted to make one change to their List A squad before matchday six of the Europa League group stage, as per UEFA rules.
January signing Alysson Edward, a £10.5m addition from Grêmio also misses out. The youngster would normally qualify for the List B squad due to only being 19-years-old, but because he hasn’t trained with the squad for an uninterrupted period of two years he does not qualify.
The same applies to young forward Brian Madjo, who joined from French side Metz. He’s likely to be kept in the reserve team in the coming months.
What alterations have Aston Villa made to their Europa League squad?
Donyell Malen and Evann Guessand, who both departed to AS Roma and Crystal Palace respectively have been removed from the squad and replaced by January signings Tammy Abraham and Douglas Luiz, who are both back for a second stint at Villa Park.
Boubacar Kamara has also been withdrawn due to his season-ending knee injury, meaning Leon Bailey, who was recalled from his loan spell at Roma, now has the chance to try and make an impression in Europe for Villa after struggling in the Italian capital.
UEFA rules stipulate that four places in a 25-man squad are reserved for 'club-trained' players, of which Villa do not have any. Jacob Ramsey was one of them in the Champions League last season before his high-profile move to Newcastle United.
Lamare Bogarde, the only first-team player to have played for the academy, is named on the List B squad.
Here’s Aston Villa’s full Europa League squad as they aim to win the competition for the first time in their history.
Goalkeepers: Emi Martinez, Marco Bizot.
Defenders: Matty Cash, Victor Lindelof, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Lucas Digne, Pau Torres, Andres Garcia, Ian Maatsen.
Midfielders: John McGinn, Youri Tielemans, Jadon Sancho, Douglas Luiz, Amadou Onana.
Forwards: Harvey Elliott, Emi Bundia, Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, Leon Bailey, Tammy Abraham.
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