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Rob Guest

Sergio Reguilon's Tottenham debut and whether Jose Mourinho can name him in Europa League squad

Tottenham fans are eager to see Sergio Reguilon in action for the first time following his move to the club last Saturday.

Making a huge impression during his year on loan at Sevilla after Real Madrid elected to let him spend the season elsewhere, Jose Mourinho moved quickly to add him to his squad amid interest from other Premier League teams.

The Spaniard joins the club on a five-year deal from Los Blancos, with Gareth Bale also heading in the same direction after returning to Spurs on a season-long loan deal seven years after moving to the Santiago Bernabeu.

The double signing has gone down extremely well in N17 and many are predicting a very good season for the Lilywhites due to their summer business.

Jose Mourinho hails Bale 'top player in Europe'

Spurs have already confirmed that Bale won't be fit to return to action until after October's international break due to a knee injury he sustained playing for Wales earlier in the month, but when exactly could we see Reguilon take to the pitch?

Well, speaking after his side's 5-2 victory over Southampton on Sunday afternoon, Mourinho stated that he could be available for the end of this week.

"You ask me about Sergio and I think Sergio will be quite quick. He is in the best period of his recovery," said the 57-year-old.

"He's training today (on Sunday while Spurs played at Southampton) with one of my assistants. He cannot play on Tuesday but I would say he will be available for us maybe for the end of the week."

So can Reguilon make his Spurs debut on Thursday in the Europa League when the team travel to North Macedonia to take on Shkendija?

Naming a European squad has always been quite problematic at Spurs due to the high number of foreign players at the club, with both Mauricio Pochettino and Mourinho having issues in the past.

However, the new signing can be named in the squad for this week's game thanks to Europa League rules for the qualifying and play-off rounds.

Although the club have had to submit List A by the 11pm cut off on September 18, 2020 for their third qualifying round fixture, Article 42:08 stipulates that clubs may register a maximum of two new eligible players on List A after the deadline.

Article 42:08 states : "For the qualifying phase and the play-offs, a club may register a maximum of two new eligible players on List A after the above-mentioned deadlines, provided the quota of locally trained players is respected.

Sergio Reguilon could be in line to make his Tottenham debut this week (Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)

"Such registration must be completed by 24.00CET on the day before the relevant single-leg match and the club’s association must confirm in writing that the new player is eligible to play at domestic level at this time."

Clubs are only permitted to name squads of 25 players for European fixtures, with a maximum of 17 foreign players allowed to be included and a minimum of eight spots reserved for locally trained players.

Sides also submit a List B which mainly consists of youth players.

A player may be registered on this list if he is born on or after 1 January 1999 and has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday by the time he is registered with UEFA.

A total of 25 players were named on Tottenham's List A for their Europa League game against Lokomotiv Plovdiv, so that means Reguilon can be included for this week's game providing that someone is removed.

Foreign numbers have tended to be problematic for Spurs in recent years but only 16 of their 25-man squad for Plovdiv were foreign players, thus meaning there is space for Reguilon to be named.

As nine locally trained players were included in Mourinho's 25-man squad, it may potentially be one of Alfie Whiteman, Cameron Carter-Vickers or Jack Clarke who miss out on selection this week to fit Reguilon in.

Tottenham's current List A for Europa League

Homegrown players: Joe Hart, Alfie Whiteman, Matt Doherty, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Harry Winks, Ryan Sessegnon, Dele Alli, Jack Clarke, Harry Kane.

Foreign players: Hugo Lloris, Paulo Gazzaniga, Toby Alderweireld, Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier, Serge Aurier, Ben Davies, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Son Heung-min, Erik Lamela, Moussa Sissoko, Giovani Lo Celso, Steven Bergwijn, Lucas Moura, Tanguy Ndombele, Gedson Fernandes.

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