Cole Palmer removed from Chelsea's UEFA Conference League squad

Chelsea have taken the bold step of omitting star player Cole Palmer from their 25-man UEFA Conference League squad for the league phase of the 2024/25 competition.

The Blues finished 6th in the Premier League last season, to seal a Conference League playoff spot, and they edged past Servette to reach the new league phase.

However, with Enzo Maresca looking to balance his bloated squad across multiple competitions, Palmer has been left off the 'A' list alongside Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana.

The latter two struggled with injury in 2023/24, but Palmer starred in his debut campaign, with 22 EPL goals scored.

The main reason behind Maresca's decision centres on reducing game load on key players with Chelsea already qualifying for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup next summer.

Maresca's side will be involved in the Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Conference League this season and he is looking to manage the situation delicately.

UEFA rules stipulate changes can be made to squads between the league phase and the first knockout round (Round of 16) in 2025.

However, all changes must be communicated to UEFA by February 2, with a maximum of three new players allowed to be added, but they must replace existing members with the squad size remaining at 25.

This means Palmer can be brought in for the serious business of knockout stage action, if Chelsea qualify, and Maresca makes the decision to add more games to his schedule.

What is a UEFA 'A' list?

UEFA rules state an 'A' list for a European club competition must not exceed 25 players with eight of those 25 spots reserved  for 'locally trained players' and no club may have more than four 'association-trained players' listed among those eight places.

Locally-trained player is classified as:

Club-trained players who were on a club's books for three entire seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21.

Association-trained players who were on another club's books in the same association for three entire seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21.

If a club has fewer than eight locally trained players in their squad, the maximum number of players on List A is reduced accordingly.

A player may be registered on List B if he is born on, or after, January 1 2003 and has been eligible to play for the club concerned for an uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday, or for a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year. 

Players aged 16 may be submitted if they have been registered with the club for the previous two years.