Liverpool Include Unwanted Defenders in Premier League Squad

Mamadou Sakho rejected a deadline day move away from Liverpool to fight for his place. Tiago Ilori wanted to leave but found no club willing to meet the club's asking price for his services. Both players face a battle to earn any minutes under a manager that saw Joël Matip, Dejan Lovren, Ragnar Klavan, and Lucas Leiva as sufficient depth for central defence. Joe Gomez, too, will add to the mix when he soon recovers from injury.

There is a possibility of featuring under Jürgen Klopp in the Premier League after both players were named in Liverpool's 25-man Premier League squad. Eight spots on the list of 25 are reserved for home-grown players, leaving 17 spots for players "who do not fulfil the "Home Grown Player" (HGP) criteria" as outlined on the Premier League's official website.

22 players were named, seven of which are home grown—indicating that Liverpool could use the remaining three slots (1 must be home grown) in the January transfer window. Divock Origi, Marko Grujić, Joe Gomez, Sheyi Ojo, and Cameron Brannagan were named alongside 50 other players on the under-21 list (born on or after 1 January 1995) of "contracts and scholars" who can be called up at any time to feature for the first team.

22 Squad players (*=Home grown)

Barbosa de Oliveira, Roberto Firmino
Can, Emre
*Clyne, Nathaniel Edwin
Coutinho Correia, Philippe
*Henderson, Jordan Brian
Ilori, Tiago
*Ings, Daniel William John
Karius, Loris
Klavan, Ragnar
*Lallana, Adam David
Lovren, Dejan
Mané, Sadio
Manninger, Alexander
Matip, Joël Andre Job
Mignolet, Simon
*Milner, James Philip
Moreno Perez, Alberto
Pezzini Leiva, Lucas
Sakho, Mamadou
*Stewart, Kevin Linford
*Sturridge, Daniel
Wijnaldum, Georginio