Mesut Ozil, Danny Drinkwater, Gedson Fernandes, Phil Jones and Harry Wilson lead the £237MILLION list of stars left out ENTIRELY by their clubs as European squads are announced
- Mesut Ozil, Danny Rose and Phil Jones will not feature in Europe this season
- A number of big-name players have been exiled by the respective teams
- Up to £237million’s worth of talent will now be left at home in the coming months
- Man City and Leicester were the only sides not to make any notable omissions
The Premier League clubs featuring in UEFA’s two European competitions this season have announced their squads – and it has spelled the death for a number of big-money stars.
Mesut Ozil, Danny Drinkwater and Danny Rose are among the list of names that has been completely omitted from clubs teams for this season, with a total figure of £237million of talent being left in the stands.
Clubs taking part in European competitions are only allowed to pick a maximum of 17 players that are defined as ‘non-homegrown’ while the remaining eight members of the 25-man squad should be homegrown.
Mesut Ozil and Danny Rose are completely left out after European squads were announced
There was also no room for Tottenham loanee Gedson Fernandes in the club’s European squad
As a result, this has left a tricky selection choice for some managers with the likes of Sokratis, William Saliba and Ozil failing to make the Arsenal team.
Ozil, who is the Gunners’ highest earner on £350,000 a week, has not played for the club since March while Greek defender Sokratis is yet to feature this season.
The decision to leave Ozil out comes as Arsenal renew their attempts to reach a pay-off agreement with the German, who has been frozen out by manager Arteta.
Saliba, who cost the Gunners £27m, has also been left out after the north London club tried sending him back to France on loan before deadline day.
A move back to St Etienne was on the cards but the proposed loan switch fell through, leaving the Ligue 1 side frustrated.
The most notable omissions at Chelsea come in the form of Victor Moses and Danny Drinkwater, who will now struggle to see any game time unless they complete moves away before the domestic transfer window closes next week.
Drinkwater has struggled tremendously since completing his £35m move to Stamford Bridge in 2017 and has failed to impress during loan spells at Burnley and most recently Aston Villa.
Moses was linked with a move back to Inter Milan but Antonio Conte will now look to return for the winger in the January window instead.
Danny Drinkwater has struggled since completing his £35m move to Stamford Bridge in 2017
At Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has decided to leave out Phil Jones, Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo, having announced the 23-man squad for their upcoming Champions League campaign.
Romero has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford with the MLS proving to be a potential destination after he saw a switch to Everton fall through.
While it comes as no surprise that Rose has not been selected by Jose Mourinho considering the England left back has not been given a squad number by Tottenham.
Mourinho has also found no room to include Spurs loanee Gedson Fernandes in his European plans and now looks set to return to Benfica once his 18-month loan spell comes to an end at White Hart Lane.
Along with Ozil, William Saliba, who cost the Gunners £27m, has been left out by Mikel Arteta
Jurgen Klopp decided not to include the £15million-rated Harry Wilson in his European plans
Tottenham agreed to pay Benfica £56m should they decide to make the Portuguese midfielder’s move a permanent one next summer but it appears now that he is no longer in Mourinho’s plans going forward.
Paulo Gazzaniga is the other casualty not to make Spurs’ European squad with the Argentine deemed surplus to requirements following the arrival of Joe Hart, who conveniently fits the homegrown quota.
For Liverpool, there was no room for the £15m-rated Harry Wilson in his plans and will now be made to watch his team-mates at home on European nights.
There were no big-name omissions from either Manchester City or Leicester.
