England-born Zimbabwean teenager Isaac Mabaya has been included in Liverpool’s Champions League squad for the forthcoming group phase.
Mabaya, who has been on a steady rise in the Liverpool Under 18 ranks, is pretty poised to travel with the team to Naples in Italy for a date with Napoli on Wednesday.
The 17-year-old gave a good account of himself during the club’s pre-season in July when he was included in the 37-men squad that toured Asia and trained in Austria.
Since then, it appears that the Preston-born budding star has gained Jurgen Klopp’s trust. And while Klopp included the rookie player, two senior players, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, were left out of the group stage squad due to injury concerns.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has been on treatment since July, when he suffered a hamstring injury during the pre-season training.
Guinea’s Keita has also been sidelined for the last four league games owing to a muscle issue that needs attention from a specialist.
According to the Liverpool Echo, clubs are permitted to include 25 players in their Champions League teams, with a quota expected to consist of at least eight homegrown players.
However, the publication reveals that the former Champions only have seven of those players who fit in the quota, Mabaya included.
UEFA rules state: “A player may be registered on List B if he is born on, or after, 1 January 2001 and has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday by the time he is registered with UEFA – or for a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year.
“Players aged 16 may be submitted if they have been registered with the club for the previous two years without interruption.”
Meanwhile, as Mabaya’s stock continues to rise, it remains unclear if the midfielder, who can also play as a right back, will commit to playing for Zimbabwe.
