Champions league squad gives Liverpool fans a big hint on Ekitike return timeline

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On Thursday night, ahead of UEFA's deadline, Liverpool submitted their Champions League squad for the league phase, which commences in just a few days time. Liverpool's UEFA Champions League squad (league phase) Goalkeepers: Alisson, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Freddie Woodman & Vítězslav Jaroš.

UEFA do require clubs to include eight "locally trained" players in their 25 man squad, hence why you're seeing the names Luke Chambers and Isaac Mabaya to bump up the numbers. However, as expected, Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitiké are not particularly close to a return, according to Iraola himself, so why are their names on this squad list?

Well, this 25-man roster is for the UEFA Champions League league phase, which begins for Liverpool against Atlético Madrid on 9 September, and concludes when Lens visit Merseyside on 27 January. So, if Bradley and Ekitiké are only going to be available from February onwards, including them in the squad now is futile, because they can just be added at a later date.