Manchester United have confirmed their Europa League squad ahead of the upcoming knockout tie against Barcelona.
Erik ten Hag’s side are still battling on four fronts, with a two-legged tie against Barca, a Carabao Cup final against Newcastle and an FA Cup fifth-round clash with West Ham adding to their Premier League workload. United travel to Camp Nou for the first leg against Barcelona on Thursday, February 16, before hosting the Catalan club at Old Trafford on February 23.
The club submitted their 25-man squad to UEFA on Tuesday, with United adding in the three players they signed in the January transfer window. That meant loanees Wout Weghorst, Jack Butland and Marcel Sabitzer were all added to the squad, which was first announced in September.
To accommodate the new additions, United had to drop three players. On this occasion that was a simple process, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Axel Tuanzebe and Martin Dubravka all no longer at the club. Young, home-grown players like Anthony Elanga are eligible for selection in the competition without being named in the squad.
Ronaldo joined Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr last month after his United contract was terminated by mutual consent. Tuanzebe has joined Stoke City on loan after returning from a long-term injury, while Dubravka returned to Newcastle after his loan deal was cut short.
Weghorst was signed on loan until the end of the season from Burnley, after spending the first half of the season with Besiktas. Butland has joined United from Crystal Palace, as a replacement for Dubravka. Sabitzer was a deadline day addition from Bayern Munich following the injury to Christian Eriksen.
Ten Hag will likely need to use the entirety of his squad if he is to negotiate his way past Barcelona into the next round of the Europa League. He revealed on Tuesday that Antony and Anthony Martial had joined the injured ranks ahead of a Premier League game against Leeds on Wednesday.
Eriksen, Scott McTominay and Donny van de Beek are all out injured, while Casemiro has begun a three-match ban after being sent off in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on the weekend. Casemiro will be available for the Barcelona ties, with the ban only counting for domestic fixtures.
The thread-bare nature of United’s squad is shown by the fact that Van de Beek remains in the Europa League squad, despite having been ruled out until the end of the season through injury. The Dutch midfielder picked up a serious knee injury in the 3-0 win over Bournemouth last month.
"On the long term, it is looking really good - he will be back for the start of pre-season. But for the rest of the season, he is out,” Ten Hag said.
"I think everyone was really [sad], our thoughts are with him. It's terrible when you are in a season and you get a bad tackle, a bad injury.”
Manchester United’s Europa League squad
Goalkeepers : David De Gea, Jack Butland, Tom Heaton.
Defenders: Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw, Raphael Varane, Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Midfielders : Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes, Fred, Scott McTominay, Marcel Sabitzer, Donny van de Beek.
Forwards : Antony, Alejandro Garnacho, Anthony Martial, Facundo Pellistri, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Wout Weghorst.
