Liverpool drop transfer hint as two stars left out of Champions League squad | OneFootball

Pair could face uncertain futures at Anfield after omission

Liverpool have left out two first-team players from their Champions League squad this season.

They are Wataru Endo and Federico Chiesa, who missed the Reds’ ‘List A’ that was due to be submitted on Wednesday evening.

The squad was announced on Thursday night, but neither the Japan international nor the Italian winger were anywhere to be seen amongst the cohort.

Both men have struggled for regular game time in their respective spells at the club, and only one of them - Endo - was in the matchday squad for the recent 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.

The pair have missed out on moves to the Premier League or anywhere else in Europe this summer, but the window remains open in Turkey and Saudi Arabia for the moment.

There is good news, however, for Liverpool fans, with the injured trio Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni all included in the squad.

That could mean that the three will return to action before the end of the year, and there is hope that that will be the case.

Left out: Federico Chiesa

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Andoni Iraola’s men had a relatively quiet transfer window by their standards, headlined only by the late arrival of Bradley Barcola for £123million from Paris Saint-Germain.

The French winger is in the squad for the Reds’ European campaign, and so is Cody Gakpo, who had looked as though he would be leaving Anfield amid interest from Manchester City.

The Dutchman stayed put after Liverpool rejected a reported £80m bid from their Premier League rivals, and it meant that Iraola’s men did not, therefore, pursue a move for either Ismaila Sarr or Yankuba Minteh, both targets that they had seen offers rebuffed for.

Liverpool will open their league phase on Wednesday, welcoming Atletico Madrid to Anfield. They then visit LASK in mid October before hosting Villarreal on matchday three.

A trip to Turkey to take on Fenerbahce follows, before another away day at Club Brugge.

FC Porto visit Merseyside in their third-last league phase match, before a visit to the San Siro to take on Inter Milan, where they will lock horns with former midfielder Curtis Jones, who completed a move to Italy earlier this summer.

They end their group stage with a home fixture against Ligue 1 outfit Lens.