LONDON: New £35m defender Benoit Badiaschile and centre-forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have been omitted from Chelsea’s squad for the Champions League knockout stages with new signings Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix all included.

UEFA rules insist that a maximum of three newly registered players can be included in their squad fo the second half of the season.

Gabon forward Aubameyang, 33, started all the Blues’ six group matches, scoring two goals, after returning to English football from Barcelona last summer.

England Under-21s winger Noni Madueke, a recent £30.7m acquisition from PSV Eindhoven and fellow new arrivals Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana were also excluded.

However, Morocco winger Hakim Ziyech, whose proposed loan move to Paris St-Germain collapsed a the last minute, does retain a place in manager Graham Potter’s squad.

Chelsea paid a British record £107m to secure the services of Argentina’s World Cup winner Fernandez from Benfica.

Mudryk’s arrival at Stamford Bridge from Shakhtar Donetsk in a deal worth up to £89m came shortly after the club signed Portugal forward Felix on a loan deal from Atletico Madrid.

Chelsea travel to German club Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their last-16 tie on February 15,

Cody Gakpo, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have all been added to Liverpool’s group, with Jurgen Klopp’s side due to play Real Madrid in a repeat of last season’s final, with the first of their two legs at Anfield on February 21.

Argentine midfielder Maximo Perrone has been included in Manchester City’s squad for their matches against RB Leipzig, replacing Portugal full-back Joao Cancelo, who is named in Bayern Munich’s contingent after heading there on loan.

Tottenham have included loan signings Arnaut Danjuma and Pedro Porro in their squad, although Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been omitted by AC Milan, who face Spurs the last 16, with the first leg taking place at the San Siro on February 14.

Ibrahimovic, 41, is yet to feature for the Italian champions this season after having knee surgery last summer having helped the club to its first Scudetto for 11 years.

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