Celtic’s Europa League Squad as Four Summer Signing Drop Out

Celtic have named their official squad for the UEFA Europa League league phase – and it includes a few notable omissions, with four summer arrivals missing out.

With UEFA’s homegrown rules limiting squad flexibility, the Hoops were only able to name 24 players rather than the full 25. And that’s meant leaving out several recent additions.

Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Hayato Inamura, Shin Yamada, and Callum Osmand have all been excluded from the squad that will face eight fixtures in the revamped league stage of the competition.

There were always doubts about Inamura’s inclusion following Rodgers’ comments earlier in the summer regarding his defensive level, while Simpson-Pusey – on loan from Manchester City – has yet to make an appearance since joining and was always a long shot. His omission, however, may raise eyebrows, particularly if City expected regular minutes for the promising defender.

The bigger surprise comes in attack. Both Shin Yamada and Callum Osmand are dropped, leaving Celtic slightly light up front despite their attacking struggles in recent months. It’s especially surprising in Shin’s case, given his growing involvement and promise during the pre-season and the first few games of this season. He came on ahead of Kenny in the derby, who wasn’t in the squad.

The good news is Kelechi Iheanacho was registered in time following his post-deadline arrival as a free agent and makes the cut. He joins Ben Nygren, Johnny Kenny, Daizen Maeda, and fellow new signings Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Sebastian Tounekti in the forward group.

Here is Celtic’s confirmed Europa League squad: [UEL]

Goalkeepers: Kasper Schmeichel, Viljami Sinisalo, Ross Doohan
Defenders: Alistair Johnston, Liam Scales, Auston Trusty, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Dane Murray, Anthony Ralston, Marcelo Saracchi, Kieran Tierney
Midfielders: Reo Hatate, Yang, Luke McCowan, Arne Engels, Paulo Bernardo, Callum McGregor, James Forrest
Forwards: Ben Nygren, Michel-Ange Balikwisha, Kelechi Iheanacho, Sebastian Tounekti, Johnny Kenny, Daizen Maeda