“In January, I think they will recruit to compensate for the absence of Rodri, because there is no defensive midfielder in this squad. Rebalance this team to avoid getting pierced. » Yesterday evening, when discussing Manchester City’s new poor performance in the Champions League (the Skybklues were beaten 2-0 by Juventus), Samir Nasri, pained by the sporting crisis in which his former team is immersed, was certain that the English champion, 22nd in the C1 ranking, would get through it thanks to the winter transfer window.
On paper, it’s highly possible. Manchester City has a very comfortable transfer window and its power of attraction no longer needs to be demonstrated. The same observation can also be made for Paris Saint-Germain. 25th in the ranking, the capital club is still virtually eliminated and some would like to see a heavy attack come in to compensate for the incredible lack of efficiency of the Rouge et Bleu. However, one point of the UEFA regulations should be remembered while there are still two days of the league phase to go.
No rookies before the knockout stage
Article 32.01 is very clear on this subject: “After the completion of the league stage and before the start of the knockout stage, a club may register a maximum of three new qualified players for the remaining matches of the current competition. These registrations must be made until February 6, 2025 (at 24:00 CET) at the latest.» In short: if Paris and City recruit players in January, they will not be able to use them during the next two days of the Champions League, and in particular on January 22, the date on which Parisians and Mancuniens will face each other on the pitch. Parc des Princes.
A detail which can be important and which therefore condemns teams in difficulty to escape this danger with their current squad. UEFA has therefore retained the same regulations from previous years, even with an extended league phase coinciding with a transfer window period. As you will have understood, the clubs will therefore have to wait until the direct elimination phase to be able to use their new weapons (3 maximum).
