Manchester City, one of the most prominent football clubs in the world, is set to welcome three new faces to their Champions League squad for the knockout rounds. However, they face a limitation as they are blocked from adding two more signings due to UEFA regulations.
City managed a thrilling comeback win over Club Brugge last week, securing their place in the play-off for the last-16. They now face an uphill battle against reigning champions Real Madrid over two legs this month. Despite being considered underdogs against the Spanish giants, Pep Guardiola's team remains optimistic with potential reinforcements on board.
New signings and registration limitations
In addition to players returning from injury, Manchester City will be able to register three new signings for their squad for this crucial stage of competition. These changes must be submitted by February 6 ahead of the start of knockout rounds.
The January window saw an investment of £175m into reinforcing the squad with five extra players available for consideration by Guardiola. Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Omar Marmoush were all signed in just last month while Claudio Echeverri is expected to join once he completes his representation at South American Under-20 Championships; his final match is scheduled on February 16.
However, UEFA regulations limit City's ability to register all five new signings; only allowing four registrations if more than five players have left since group stages and five additions if more than seven have left. This means that out of these five recent recruits only three can be registered.
Likely exclusions
Given these limitations imposed by UEFA rules it seems likely that Echeverri will not make it into this round’s squad due his unavailability for Madrid tie because of his ongoing commitment at South American Under-20 Championships. Among the other recruits, Vitor Reis, being the youngest and playing in the same position as Khusanov, might also be left out.
While Manchester City's recent signings have bolstered their squad significantly, UEFA regulations pose a challenge to fully utilizing this new talent. As they prepare for their upcoming matches against Real Madrid in Champions League knockout rounds, strategic decisions will need to be made regarding which players to register and how best to leverage their skills on the field.
