Chelsea Take Advantage of New UEFA Rule to Make Last Minute Change Before Facing Bayern Munich
- Chelsea have made last-minute changes to their UEFA Champions League squad before facing Bayern Munich
- The Blues took advantage of a new UEFA rule to bring a player signed before the summer deadline day
- Chelsea return to the Champions League after a two-year absence with a trip to face Bayern at Allianz Arena
Chelsea have taken advantage of a new UEFA rule to make changes to their Champions League squad ahead of facing Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.
The world champions are back in the UEFA Champions League for the first time after a two-season absence, after finishing fourth last season.
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Chelsea, during their absence, have won the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Europa Conference League and eye a third star in the UCL.
The Blues submitted their squad for the competition days after the summer transfer window and were forced to make some tough decisions because of a UEFA sanction.
The Londoners were fined £21.6 million and would have been unable to register new signings if they had not made a significant profit in sales.
According to Football London, the Blues recouped £354 million in sales plus add-ons from the departure of players including Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku and João Felix.
Chelsea make changes to UCL squad
Chelsea, despite their record sale, left out summer signing Facundo Buonanotte, who joined on a season-long loan from Brighton, out of their Champions League squad.
The Argentine attacking midfielder, who arrived to provide cover for attacking midfielder Cole Palmer, who got injured against West Ham, admitted that the prospect of playing in the UEFA Champions League lured him to Chelsea.
“It’s a great step in my career. I’ll get the opportunity to play in the Champions League for the first time, which will be a great challenge,” he said, as quoted by Sun Sport.
His omission raised questions over the discussions he had with the club before sealing a loan move to Stamford Bridge, which did not include an option to buy.
However, Chelsea have confirmed in an official statement that Buonanotte has been included in the Champions League squad as a last-minute change.
The Argentine was a replacement for Portuguese midfielder Dario Essugo, who suffered a long-term injury during international duty this month.
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Chelsea took advantage of Article 31.14 C of UEFA's Champions League regulations, which was amended last week to replace Essugo with Buonanotte, though their positions are different.
The rule states that clubs are now allowed to make a “temporary” replacement of one outfield player with an injury exceeding 60 days up until the sixth match day in December, when the Conference League initial phase will end.
Essugo, who is widely regarded as Ecuadorian midfielder Moises Caicedo’s deputy, is expected to be out of action for 12 weeks after surgery on a thigh injury.
Chelsea re-signed player 33 days after selling him
Legit.ng previously reported that Chelsea re-signed a Nigeria-eligible player 33 days after selling him to sister club RC Strasbourg.
The Blues sold Ishe Samuels-Smith to the French club for £6.5 million, but re-signed him for an undisclosed fee before loaning him out to Swansea.
Source: Legit.ng
