Tottenham name Champions League squad as £30m summer signing Mathys Tel among six players left out

Tottenham have confirmed a 22-man squad for the Champions League group stage with the likes of James Maddison and Yves Bissouma missing out on the competition

Mathys Tel is among six players who have been left out of Tottenham’s Champions League squad for the first half of the 2025/26 season.

The club had to submit their 25-man squad for the league phase to UEFA by 11pm on Tuesday, September 2, ahead of their return to Europe’s top competition later this month.

Tottenham has previously faced challenges with their European squad due to differing rules from those in the Premier League. The issue lies in a shortage of club-trained players and an excess of more than the required four association-trained players and the permitted 17 non-homegrown players.

This has led to previous managers having to exclude players from a European squad. The situation has worsened this season, with a total of six players being dropped by Thomas Frank for the league phase.

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The players left out are Radu Dragusin, Kota Takai, Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Tel, who joined Spurs in a £30m permanent deal this summer having spent the second half of last season on loan. Maddison is expected to miss the bulk of the season with an ACL injury, while Kulusevski is also currently sidelined.

Unfortunately, Tottenham are not in a position to name a full 25-man squad for the Champions League due to a lack of club-trained players. Brandon Austin is the only player in that category, leaving three spots unfilled, reports Football London.

This puts them in a difficult situation where they can only name a 22-man squad instead of the usual 25.

A revised squad list can be submitted for the knockout round, allowing a maximum of three changes for the remaining matches in the tournament. In last season’s Europa League, Djed Spence was added to the Tottenham squad for the knockout phase after being left out for the initial part of the competition, with manager Ange Postecoglou regrettably having to make cuts.

In this season’s Champions League, Spurs are set to face Villarreal, Bodo/Glimt, AS Monaco, FC Copenhagen, PSG, Slavia Prague, Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt. Here is Tottenham’s squad for the league phase:.

Goalkeepers: Guglielmo Vicario, Antonin Kinsky, Brandon Austin.

Defenders: Kevin Danso, Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero, Pedro Porro, Djed Spence, Ben Davies, Micky van de Ven.

Midfielders: Joao Palhinha, Xavi Simons, Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Mohammed Kudus, Brennan Johnson, Wilson Odobert, Pape Matar Sarr, Rodrigo Bentancur.

Strikers: Richarlison, Dominic Solanke, Randal Kolo Muani.

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