Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta will have to leave a first-team player out of the club’s Europa League squad following the signings of Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior.
The Gunners signed Poland international defender Kiwior for £21million from Spezia and are trying to do a deal for Real Valladolid full-back Ivan Fresneda. That comes on top of their £27m signing of Trossard from Brighton while they are in the market for a January loan move for a midfielder to strengthen their squad for the title run-in.
Unlike last season, it is not only domestically where the North London side are aiming for silverware as they are into the Round of 16 of the Europa League. Arteta’s side avoided the playoff round of matches by topping their group ahead of PSV Eindhoven, meaning they will not return to the competition until March.
Yet that is going to force Arteta into a tough decision on which player to leave out of his squad for the competition. There is only space for one more player in the club’s 25-man European squad, while two new arrivals have already been signed with the possibility of more.
As outlined by UEFA, the ruling regarding player registration states : 'As of the round of 16, a club may register a maximum of three new eligible players for the remaining matches in the current competition. Such registration must be completed by 2 February 2023 (24.00CET) at the latest. This deadline cannot be extended.
'Any or all of the players from the above quota of three may have been fielded for another club in the qualifying phase, play-offs or group stage of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League or UEFA Europa Conference League.'
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There is the possibility that the club go on to sign Fresneda this month while they have also been linked with a move for a new midfielder with Juventus player Weston McKennie said to be on their radar. However, that will mean that the club have further exceeded their maximum squad limit.
Arsenal registered a 24-player squad for the group stages – which did not include Bukayo Saka or Karl Hein who are on List B due to their age and meeting certain requirements – with space for only one more player before others need to be removed.
Goalkeepers: Aaron Ramsdale, Matt Turner, James Hillson
Defenders: Kieran Tierney, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Rob Holding, Cedric Soares, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko
Midfielders: Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard, Fabio Vieira, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Matt Smith
Forwards: Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson, Marquinhos
It is likely that the first player to make way from the squad will be full-back Cedric Soares, who has been linked with a move to Fulham this month. The Portugal international has fallen behind Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White in the competition for a right-back berth in Arteta’s side.
