Arsenal have announced their squad for the Europa League round of 32 and this has come with a surprise omission. Konstantinos Mavropanos who recently arrived back from injury and scored last night for the under 23’s prior to the match being called off for adverse weather has been left out of Unai Emery’s European plans.
(Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Why has Konstantinos Mavropanos been left out?
With the defensive frailties the gunners have undergone this season it is hard to believe that the Arsenal manager has chosen to go into the competition with only three recognised centre-halves (Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis Papastathopoulos).
Arsenal have just three recognised centre-halves available for the rest of their Europa League campaign (Mustafi, Sokratis & Koscielny). #afc pic.twitter.com/ahODeV6Miv
— TheAFCnewsroom (@TheAFCnewsroom) February 5, 2019
The reason why the Greek has been left out is due to a UEFA rule which states a 25-man squad must have a minimum of eight locally-trained players, if the club cannot name eight, the total number of players in the squad reduces. Emiliano Martinez counts as a ‘home grown’ player and because he went out on loan to Reading in the January transfer window it means the squad is reduced to 24 players. There is also the option of a ‘B’ list which Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Eddie Nketiah are included but the the defender does not meet the requirements as he has not played for the North London side for 2 years or more.
The UEFA rules state that: “A player may be registered on List B if he is born on, or after, 1 January 1997 and has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday (players aged 16 may be submitted if they have been registered with the club for the previous two years). Clubs are entitled to register an unlimited number of players on List B during the season, but the list must be submitted by no later than 24:00CET the day before a match.”
Why has Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck been included despite having season ending injuries?
The reason why these three have been included despite being unable to play due to their injuries is due to them being locally-trained players.
Arsenal face BATE Borisov in the round of 32 in 9 days time.
Arsenal’s confirmed Europa League squad:
List A
Goalkeepers
Petr Cech
Bernd Leno
Deyan Iliev
Defenders
Hector Bellerin
Sokratis
Laurent Koscielny
Shkodran Mustafi
Stephan Lichtsteiner
Rob Holding
Nacho Monreal
Carl Jenkinson
Sead Kolasianc
Midfielders
Mohamed Elneny
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Aaron Ramsey
Mesut Ozil
Lucas Torreira
Alex Iwobi
Denis Suarez
Matteo Guendouzi
Granit Xhaka
Forwards
Alexandre Lacazette
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Danny Welbeck
