Arsenal, City and Villa face UEFA squad registration deadline 48 hours after transfer window closes

Nine Premier League clubs have until 11pm on Wednesday, September 2 to submit their UEFA squad lists, giving them just 48 hours after the close of the summer transfer window to finalise their European rosters.

Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United must register for the Champions League, while Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Sunderland face the same deadline for the Europa League. Brighton & Hove Albion must do likewise for the Conference League.

Each club may name up to 25 players, with at least two of them required to be goalkeepers. A minimum of eight must be ‘locally trained players’, of whom at least four must qualify as ‘club-trained’ — defined by UEFA as players registered with the club for three full seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21. Failing to meet the eight-player locally trained threshold reduces the maximum squad size a club can register.

Aston Villa face additional complications. UEFA fined the club £19 million in 2025 for a significant breach of their squad cost rules and, as a result, Villa are prohibited from registering new signings unless their transfer balance is positive — meaning income from player sales must exceed spending on arrivals. Based on reported figures, Villa spent approximately £250 million on new players this summer while recouping over £300 million in sales, suggesting they should clear that threshold. Their summer additions include deadline-day signings Ibrahim Mbaye and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, alongside Johan Manzambi, Joao Gomes, Leon Goretzka, Matteo Ruggeri, Nicolas Jackson and Zion Suzuki.

Manchester City must register Tuesday’s headline arrival Enzo Fernandez, as well as Iliman Ndiaye, ahead of the cut-off.

Crystal Palace and Sunderland were among the busiest clubs on deadline day, each confirming two signings in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Palace brought in Dario Osorio from Midtjylland and Quinten Timber — twin brother of Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber — from Marseille.