Chelsea’s signature of Mykhailo Mudryk leaves them with key Champions League conundrum

Chelsea face Champions League squad registration issues after Mykhailo Mudryk signing

According to the Evening Standard, Chelsea will face squad registration issues in the Champions League after the signing of Mykhailo Mudryk.

The Blues announced the arrival of Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk on Sunday for a deal worth £88.5m, beating London rivals Arsenal in the process.

Chelsea had a 24-man squad for the group stages of the Champions League. Hence, they have only one spot available for the knockout rounds.

But, in the January window so far, the club has signed four senior-team players so far. CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs has confirmed that they may sign two more before the end of this month.

Due to the UEFA rules, the clubs have a February 2 deadline to register players in the List A category. The limit is 25 players.

It means only one of either Mudryk, Joao Felix or Benoit Badiashile can get registered. After that, it would be up to Graham Potter and his staff to figure out who to remove to accommodate the other two new signings.

Armando Broja is injured for the rest of this season, but he cannot be removed as he was initially on List B, the under-21 players who have been at the club for some time.

Injured foreign players such as Wesley Fofana or Christian Pulisic could be an option, while Juventus loanee Denis Zakaria, who is also currently injured, might be a safer bet to remove.

More Chelsea News:

• Ben Jacobs confirms that Chelsea will do more business in January
• Graham Potter happy with the debut performance of Benoit Badiashile for Chelsea
• Chelsea don’t rule out second bid for Benfica star Enzo Fernandez in January

Not that it looks likely as of now, but if Chelsea manage to make a deep run in the Champions League, none of the left-out players will be happy. So, Potter has to strike a balance between who he wants and how to manage the mood of the dressing room once the registration is done.