VfB Stuttgart have named their squad for their return to the Champions League later this month but there are some notable exclusions.
Summer signings Nick Woltemade and Justin Diehl who both joined on free transfers from Werder Bremen and 1.FC Köln in the summer have been excluded from the squad. Academy graduate Anrie Chase, who is slowly asserting himself in the Stuttgart squad, was also omitted from the 25-man squad but the Japanese youth international has been included in the B-List.
For Woltemade and Diehl the reason they have not be included is due to the squad registration rules according to kicker. A team competing in the Champions League must have a squad of 25 players which has to include eight locally trained players with four of these eight being association-trained.
A locally trained player is one who has been under contract at the club or another club within the same association (so Germany) for three full seasons between 15 and 21.
The players in the Stuttgart squad that benefited from this rule are highly rated goalkeeper Dennis Seiman as well as Luca Raimund, Thomas Kastaranas and Samuel di Benedetto.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
