Gray not in squad for Europa League
Amartey also misses out
A FURTHER sign that Demarai Gray’s future does not lie at the King Power Stadium has been offered by manager Brendan Rodgers’ decision to leave him out of Leicester City’s Europa League squad.
Despite being one of City’s best performers during Project Restart at the end of last term – in which he scored once and set up two more goals, the winger is yet to play any Premier League football this season.
The 24-year-old, who has less than a year remaining on his contract, appears to have been propelled further down the pecking order by the arrival of Turkey international wideman
Cengiz Under.
Rodgers has always been positive about Gray’s contribution, but the winger is keen for more game-time, having started only three Premier League matches last season.
While he has shown improvements under Rodgers, he has not developed as well as expected during his fourand-a-half years at the King Power Stadium, during which he has made more than 150 appearances.
LEICESTER City have unveiled their 24-man squad for their Europa League campaign – and there are some notable absentees, writes Mark Whiley.
The Foxes must reduce their squad ahead of their group opener against Zorya Luhansk on October 22.
Winger Demarai Gray and defender Daniel Amartey are among those to be left out. Gray is yet to feature for the Foxes in the Premier League this season and has been linked with a move away from the club.
Amartey has started the last two Premier League games, but was substituted with a hamstring injury during Sunday’s defeat to West Ham United. Less of a surprise is the absence of Filip Benkovic, Matty James and Islam Slimani from the squad.
Benkovic and James could join EFL clubs on loan before the domestic transfer deadline on October 16, while Slimani is expected to officially leave the King Power Stadium soon.
Wilfred Ndidi has been included despite his groin injury, which is expected to keep him out of all of the group games, while youngster Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has also made the cut.
A squad of up to 25 is permitted, but four of those have to be club-trained players, of which City only have three in Harvey Barnes, Hamza Choudhury and Dewsbury-Hall. As a result, Brendan Rodgers can only name a 24-man squad for the competition, although it can be edited if the Foxes reach the knockout stage.
EUROPA LEAGUE SQUAD: Goalkeepers: Kasper Schmeichel, Danny Ward, Eldin Jakupovic
Full-backs: Ricardo Pereira, James Justin, Timothy Castagne, Christian Fuchs
Centre-backs: Wes Morgan, Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu, Wesley Fofana
Central midfielders: Papy Mendy, Wilfred Ndidi, Hamza Choudhury, James Maddison, Youri Tielemans, Dennis Praet, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Wingers: Marc Albrighton, Harvey Barnes, Ayoze Perez, Cengiz Under
Strikers: Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho