(Football news) Liverpool have announced their 24 man squad for the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League season. The two prominent absentees are midfielders Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The exclusion of Oxlade-Chamberlain is understandable as he has been struggling with injuries and has been a fringe player for the past two seasons. He is likely to get minutes only in cup fixtures against lower division teams this season. The decision to exclude Naby Keita is a bit of a strange one as he was an important part of the team last season. He suffered an injury in Pre-season and since then only played 5 minutes and that too in the Community Shield final.

Keita has been reportedly seeking a move away from Anfield all summer but to no avail. Jurgen Klopp kept saying that he didn't want another midfielder unless someone leaves but changed his mind after a lot of his midfielders suffered injuries. Keita also ended up saying but this move by the club and/or Klopp isn't going to go down well with the midfielder. This is a clear indication that Keita has fallen down the pecking order. New signing Arthur who is yet to make his debut for the club is included in the squad as is academy player Stefan Bajcetic. Apart from the two, Fabinho, James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Fabio Carvalho are midfield options. Harvey Elliot and Curtis Jones have been registered in the B list squad and can be called up as they homegrown and born after 1st January 2001.

The squad can be updated in January after new signings but until then the team will be without Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita. It wouldn't be a surprise if we never see Keita in a Liverpool shirt again. He could seek a move away from the club in January. Jurgen Klopp will definitely be asked about the decision in his next press conference and it will be interesting to see what the German manager has to say about it. Liverpoolwill kick off their UCL campaign with an away fixture against Napoli.

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