Tottenham’s Champion League roster missing familiar names

Tottenham have declined to include Vincent Janssen and Érik Lamela in their 21-man squad for the upcoming Champions League group stage.

The squad list announcement comes just days after Tottenham adding Fernando Llorente to the squad, effectively demoting Janssen to third choice striker.

Lamela’s absence on the list is more about injury and depth. The Argentinian continues to recover from a hip injury that forced him to miss most of last season.

Up until Thursday it was virtually unthinkable that Janssen would not be included in Spurs’ final Champions League roster. He was the only natural striker available in the squad after first choice starter Harry Kane.

The Dutchman never really found any traction at Spurs after his £20 million move from AZ Alkmaar last summer. He only scored one non-penalty goal in the Premier League in over 800 minutes played.

Adjusting to life in English football can be difficult, so it was widely thought that Janssen would be given more time to adapt his game. When it became clear that Llorente was available on the final day of the summer transfer window though, it appears as if Spurs were ready to give up. Last minute rumors linking Janssen to both West Brom and Brighton failed to materialize into reality.

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His failure to make it into the Champions League roster isn’t quite the nail in the coffin it might initially seem. Due to the lack of homegrown talent — only Kane and Danny Rose qualify under UEFA’s rules — Tottenham are limited to only a 21-man squad compared to the tournament’s normal 25.

That means sacrifices have to be made, and in it this case it meant excluding a player who likely won’t recover from injury sufficiently to make much of an impact before the new year, and another who isn’t likely to get minutes over a more experienced player like Llorente.

Harry Winks and Kyle Walker-Peters also don’t appear on Spurs’ roster, but their ages — 21 and 20, respectively — qualify them for inclusion in the team under UEFA’s rules incentivizing youngster’s participation.

So where does this leave Janssen? It could go one of two ways. Mauricio Pochettino could continue to include him on the bench and perhaps grants him some starts in domestic cup games. Or Janssen trains and plays with the under-21 team until January comes around and an appropriate loan or permanent move can be arranged.

Given the fact that Llorente is 32-years-old and Janssen is still only 23, it seems counter-productive to get rid of him out right. Llorente is unquestionably the better option in the short term, but if Janssen can rediscover some of the form that earned him his move to Spurs he could remain a valuable asset.

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Expect, then, that Janssen will be given some limited opportunities this autumn, most likely followed by a domestic loan move in January. If he can find his footing in the Premier League Spurs might still have use for him.