Curtis Jones and Neco Williams will still be able to play in the UEFA Champions League this season despite being left out of Liverpool’s squad list for the group stages of the tournament.
The Reds confirmed their squad for the competition on Friday night, with both Harvey Elliott and Divock Origi included.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were handed a tough draw against reigning Spanish champions Atletico Madrid, Italian giants AC Milan and familiar opponents FC Porto last month.
And the reason why Jones and Williams don’t feature on the list of 24-players submitted by Liverpool is because of UEFA rules.
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The rules set by the governing body state that any player under the age of 21 that qualifies as "homegrown" doesn't need to be registered as part of the maximum 25-man squad for the tournament and can instead be included on the B list.
This means that while they aren't listed on the official UEFA website, they are still eligible to play in the tournament so long as they are added to the B list which can be amended by the club at any time.
But fellow youngster Harvey Elliott is named in the A-list as he does not qualify as a home grown player.
As reported by the ECHO earlier this week, the 18-year-old counts as an Under-21s player who doesn’t need to be registered to play in the Premier League this season, however, it is a different story in continental competition.
While of age to be registered as a ‘List B’ player, having been born on, or after, 1 January 2000, the midfielder doesn’t actually yet fulfil the criteria to be counted as such.
UEFA rules state that an of age player can be registered on ‘List B’ if he; “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, or 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.”
Joining Liverpool from Fulham when 16 years old in July 2019, Elliott ’s season on loan at Blackburn Rovers last season means he has not enjoyed an uninterrupted two-year period at Anfield, though he will be eligible to be registered as a ‘List B’ player next season in line with UEFA rules.
Liverpool kick-off their European campaign against Milan on September 15 at Anfield, before taking on Porto at the Estadio do Dragao two weeks later.
