Juventus have added Jeff Ekhator to their UEFA squad list in place of injured captain Manuel Locatelli, and the move was dictated by the registration rules rather than a straight footballing choice. Edon Zhegrova looked like the more obvious on-field option, but UEFA's homegrown quota left Juventus with Ekhator as the eligible replacement.

UEFA's registration rule

Juventus CEO Giovanni Carnevali said the change was forced by the squad rules. Speaking to Sky Sport Italia in comments translated from Italian, Carnevali said: "Locatelli is a player trained in Italy and can only be replaced by a player trained in Italy: so Ekhator and not Zhegrova". He also told TuttoMercatoWeb that "The forward bought in the summer from Genoa will also be available in the Europa League: he takes the place of the midfielder, who is injured."

The rule itself is clear enough. UEFA allows up to 25 players on List A, with at least 8 locally trained players, four from the club's own academy and four from clubs in the same federation. Zhegrova had never played in Italy before joining Juventus, so he would have needed one of the 17 unrestricted places, which were already full.

The football case for Zhegrova is still easy to see. He has 8 Serie A appearances and 2 goals this season, 4 goal involvements overall, while Ekhator has 0 Serie A appearances this season.

Locatelli's absence and Ekhator's return

Locatelli had knee surgery on his meniscus in September and was not expected back until next year. That left Juventus looking for a squad-list replacement in an active European campaign, and the club sit 7th in the Europa League with 7 points from 3 matches.

Ekhator's timing helps explain why Juventus turned to him. He returned to the squad for Sunday's 2-0 win over Napoli after a long injury lay-off, and his recent league rhythm has been limited to 312 minutes across his last five Serie A appearances. Juventus may have preferred Zhegrova on form, but the registration rules left them no room to use him in Locatelli's place.

The same squad decision says more about UEFA paperwork than squad-building flair, and Juventus now have to work within it for the rest of the Europa League league phase.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →