Little-known UEFA rule blocks Chelsea from adding £60m player to Conference League final squad

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has been presented with a selection headache as Romeo Lavia is ineligible for the Conference League final. Lavia was not named in the List A squad Chelsea submitted to UEFA for the tournament and no alterations can be made to it. Chelsea won’t be able to plan with Lavia for the Conference League finalGetty However, per UEFA Rules, clubs are ‘entitled to register an unlimited number of players’ to List B during the season. The list must be submitted no later than 11pm GMT on the day before a match. But in a brutal twist for Lavia, he does not meet all the criteria required to be named on List B. UEFA rules state a player can be registered on List B if they are born after January 1 in 2003, a requirement Lavia meets given he was born on January 6 in 2004. However, the Belgian falls short of the other rule. According to UEFA, players must have been “eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years, or a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period”. Lavia has not been at Chelsea long enough having joined in August 2023. Additionally, he didn’t spent the required time at former clubs Manchester City and Southampton, even though they are in the same association as Chelsea. It means Maresca will have to plan without the talented Belgian for Wednesday’s final against Real Betis in Wroclaw, Poland. The Italian may have showed his hand as to how he will shape his midfield during Chelsea’s final league fixture. Maresca has the best kind of headache possible going into Wednesday’s finalGetty In the 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest, which secured the Blues a return to the Champions League, Maresca started with Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez as the two pivots while superstar Cole Palmer was the attacking midfielder. Lavia did make an appearance during the contest in the form of a 28-minute cameo off the bench in place of Jadon Sancho as Maresca looked to shore up his side to see out the contest following Levi Colwill’s goal in the 50th minute. The Belgian has made just 18 appearances across all competitions this season, 12 of which have been starts. Unfortunately for Lavia, he has missed 17 league fixtures due to injury. He has also played no part in Chelsea’s Conference League campaign due to ineligibility. The 21-year-old has struggled to find his footing since arriving at Stamford Bridge in August 2023 for an initial £58million. Lavia has logged only 885 minutes of action since he joined Chelsea in August 2023Getty He saw only 32 minutes of action in his debut campaign as he struggled to overcome ankle and hamstring injuries. However, he has shown glimpses of why he was the subject of a bidding war between Chelsea and Liverpool in the 2023 summer window with impressive displays for the Blues in their run home this season. But he’ll have to watch Maresca’s side attempt to make history on Wednesday from the stands. Should Chelsea overcome Betis, they would become the first team to win every one of UEFA’s major cup competitions having already triumphed in the Champions League, Europa League and the Super Cup. talkSPORT will have live coverage of the action in Wroclaw and you can listen to it all unfold here.

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Little-known UEFA rule blocks Chelsea from adding £60m player to Conference League final squad

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has been presented with a selection headache as Romeo Lavia is ineligible for the Conference League final.

Lavia was not named in the List A squad Chelsea submitted to UEFA for the tournament and no alterations can be made to it.

Chelsea won’t be able to plan with Lavia for the Conference League final

However, per UEFA Rules, clubs are ‘entitled to register an unlimited number of players’ to List B during the season.

The list must be submitted no later than 11pm GMT on the day before a match.

But in a brutal twist for Lavia, he does not meet all the criteria required to be named on List B.

UEFA rules state a player can be registered on List B if they are born after January 1 in 2003, a requirement Lavia meets given he was born on January 6 in 2004.

However, the Belgian falls short of the other rule.

According to UEFA, players must have been “eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years, or a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period”.

Lavia has not been at Chelsea long enough having joined in August 2023.

Additionally, he didn’t spent the required time at former clubs Manchester City and Southampton, even though they are in the same association as Chelsea.

It means Maresca will have to plan without the talented Belgian for Wednesday’s final against Real Betis in Wroclaw, Poland.

The Italian may have showed his hand as to how he will shape his midfield during Chelsea’s final league fixture.

Maresca has the best kind of headache possible going into Wednesday’s final

In the 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest, which secured the Blues a return to the Champions League, Maresca started with Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez as the two pivots while superstar Cole Palmer was the attacking midfielder.

Lavia did make an appearance during the contest in the form of a 28-minute cameo off the bench in place of Jadon Sancho as Maresca looked to shore up his side to see out the contest following Levi Colwill’s goal in the 50th minute.

The Belgian has made just 18 appearances across all competitions this season, 12 of which have been starts.

Unfortunately for Lavia, he has missed 17 league fixtures due to injury.

He has also played no part in Chelsea’s Conference League campaign due to ineligibility.

The 21-year-old has struggled to find his footing since arriving at Stamford Bridge in August 2023 for an initial £58million.

Lavia has logged only 885 minutes of action since he joined Chelsea in August 2023

He saw only 32 minutes of action in his debut campaign as he struggled to overcome ankle and hamstring injuries.

However, he has shown glimpses of why he was the subject of a bidding war between Chelsea and Liverpool in the 2023 summer window with impressive displays for the Blues in their run home this season.

But he’ll have to watch Maresca’s side attempt to make history on Wednesday from the stands.

Should Chelsea overcome Betis, they would become the first team to win every one of UEFA’s major cup competitions having already triumphed in the Champions League, Europa League and the Super Cup.

talkSPORT will have live coverage of the action in Wroclaw and you can listen to it all unfold here.