Wilfried Bony replaces Jovetic in Manchester City’s Champions League squad
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Version 0 of 1. Manchester City have left striker Stevan Jovetic out of their Champions League squad to accommodate their new £25m signing Wilfried Bony. The arrival of the Ivory Coast international Bony from Swansea in January meant City had one more foreign player in their squad than they are permitted to register for European competition. The governing body Uefa published City’s revised squad for the second half of the season on Thursday and Jovetic’s name was not included. The decision by manager Manuel Pellegrini to leave out Jovetic means he will continue to be restricted to just three senior strikers for the remainder of the competition – Bony, Sergio Agüero and Edin Dzeko. But given 25-year-old Jovetic’s limited involvement during 19 often injury-troubled months at City, Pellegrini – despite a looming Champions League last-16 tie against Barcelona – appears to have decided it is a sacrifice worth making. Jovetic, who missed large spells last season with calf and hamstring problems, has scored just 11 goals since his £22m move from Fiorentina in 2013 and this latest setback will raise doubts over his long-term City future. The issue has arisen because City, as punishment for breaching Uefa’s financial fair play restrictions, are restricted to naming just 16 foreign players in their squad rather than the usual 17. City had to submit their squad by 11pm on Tuesday, but the details have only now been made public by Uefa. The other prime candidates for omission were thought to be back-up goalkeeper Willy Caballero and full-backs Aleksandar Kolarov and Bacary Sagna. The Frenchman Gaël Clichy and the Belgian Dedryck Boyata do not count on the foreign quota as they qualify as homegrown and club-trained respectively. By leaving out Jovetic, the balance of the squad is not changed. Pellegrini’s initial decision to name just three strikers was influenced by injury to Álvaro Negredo, who has subsequently joined Valencia on loan, last summer. City host Barça in the first leg of their opening knockout round tie on 24 February and travel to the Camp Nou three weeks later. |