Iraola's Bold Decision: Chiesa and Endo Omitted from Liverpool's Champions League Squad
Andoni Iraola has wasted no time showing where the new lines of power are drawn at Anfield. Before a ball is kicked in Europe, two established internationals have been pushed to the margins.
Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo have both been left out of Liverpool’s 25-man Champions League squad for the 2026-27 campaign, a decision that lands like a cold slap so early in Iraola’s reign. Their exile becomes official when the Reds open their league-phase campaign against Atletico Madrid at Anfield on September 9. They will watch it from the stands.
Quotas bite – and Iraola shows his hand
On paper, the call can be traced to UEFA’s regulations. Only 17 non-locally trained players are allowed on List A. In practice, those numbers reveal exactly who Iraola believes can carry his ideas.
The Basque coach has handed those coveted slots to £123 million signing Bradley Barcola, fellow summer recruit Victor Munoz, and even Hugo Ekitike, who is currently injured. Ekitike’s inclusion, despite his absence, speaks loudly. There was room for a long-term project. There was no room for Chiesa or Endo.
That is not a clerical detail. It is a judgment.
Carragher’s blunt verdict
Jamie Carragher, never one to sugar-coat, cut straight through the sentiment when he spoke on The Overlap.
“Liverpool have got two players in the squad who are never going to play,” he said. “And there are all these quotas, you can only have 17 players and all that. They have got Chiesa and Endo. It’s like they are never going to kick a ball.”
For Endo, the assessment went further. Carragher questioned why the club even kept him this summer.
“Endo should have been moved on,” he added. “He has done great, a bit of a cult hero.”
That phrase – “cult hero” – sums up Endo’s Liverpool story to date. Admired, appreciated, but never truly central. Under Iraola, that gap looks to have widened into a chasm.
Endo and Chiesa slide down the ladder
The numbers from last season already hinted at trouble for Endo. The Japan international saw his role shrink sharply, restricted to just eight Premier League appearances and a single Champions League outing. For a player who arrived as a steadying presence in midfield, that is a steep fall.
Chiesa’s problems have been different but no less damaging. His time at Anfield has been repeatedly interrupted by fitness issues, each comeback stalling just as he threatened to build rhythm. At 28, he should be in his prime. Instead, he is nursing another muscle injury and drifting further from the core of the squad.
The current setback is not considered long-term, which makes Iraola’s decision even more pointed. Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni, both long-term absentees, have been registered ahead of a forward who is edging back towards fitness. That is not about availability. It is about hierarchy.
Both Chiesa and Endo remain under contract, until 2027 and 2028 respectively. On paper, they are part of Liverpool’s future. On the evidence of this squad list, their future may lie elsewhere.
Domestic duty while Europe moves on
Liverpool’s immediate focus is split. Ipswich Town arrive at Anfield on Friday in the league, a domestic assignment that precedes the glamour and jeopardy of European nights.
Once Atletico Madrid roll into town, the scale of the challenge becomes clear. The new Champions League league phase sends Iraola’s side on demanding trips to Inter and Fenerbahce, fixtures that will test both depth and resolve.
Chiesa and Endo, though, are unlikely to feel that strain. Their season, at least for now, looks confined to the margins: domestic cups, odd league minutes, training-ground battles to stay relevant. Only a serious injury crisis, and the chance to alter the registered squad later in the campaign, offers them a potential route back into Europe.
For a pair of seasoned internationals, that is a brutal comedown. For Iraola, it is a stark early declaration: sentiment will not shape this Liverpool. The squad list already has.
