News

Ozil, Danny Drinkwater, Gedson Fernandes, Phil Jones lead list of stars left out

Friday, October 9th, 2020 00:00 | By
Mesut Ozil.PHOTO/COURTESY

London, Thursday

Premier League clubs featuring in UEFA’s two European competitions this season have announced their squads – and it has spelled the death for a number of big-money stars.

Mesut Ozil, Danny Drinkwater and Danny Rose are among the list of names that has been completely omitted from club teams for this season, with a total figure of £237million of talent being left in the stands.

Clubs taking part in European competitions are only allowed to pick a maximum of 17 players that are defined as ‘non-homegrown’ while the remaining eight members of the 25-man squad should be homegrown.

As a result, this has left a tricky selection choice for the likes of Mikel Arteta, who decide against including Sokratis, William Saliba and Ozil for their Europa League campaign. 

Ozil, who is the Gunners’ highest earner on £350,000 a week, has not played for the club since March while Greek defender Sokratis is yet to feature this season.

The decision to leave Ozil out comes as Arsenal renew their attempts to reach a pay-off agreement with the German, who has been frozen out by Arteta.

Saliba, who cost the Gunners £27m, has also been left out after the north London club tried sending him back to France on loan before deadline day.

A move back to St Etienne was on the cards but the proposed loan switch fell through, leaving the Ligue 1 side frustrated.

The most notable omissions at Chelsea come in the form of Victor Moses and Danny Drinkwater, who will now struggle to see any game time unless they complete moves away before the domestic transfer window closes next week.

Drinkwater has struggled tremendously since completing his £35m move from Leicester to Stamford Bridge in 2017, while he failed to impress during loan spells at Burnley and most recently Aston Villa.

Moses was linked with a move back to Inter Milan but the move fell through. Inter boss Antonio Conte will now look to return for the winger in the January window instead.

At Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has decided to leave out Phil Jones, Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo, having announced the 23-man squad for their upcoming Champions League campaign. -Dailymail

More on News


ADVERTISEMENT

RECOMMENDED STORIES News


ADVERTISEMENT