Newcastle United hand first Champions League call-up to 16 y/o - 22-man squad v Marseille

Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has named a 22-man squad for the Champions League clash against Marseille on Tuesday (kick-off 8pm).

The Magpies arrived in the South of France on Monday afternoon before training at the Stade Velodrome in the evening. Howe spoke to the media followed by defender Malick Thiaw.

Anthony Gordon, Emil Krafth and Dan Burn are back with the squad after missing the 2-1 win over Manchester City. Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall came through their first starts since September unscathed.

Newcastle remain without Kieran Trippier, Will Osula and Yoane Wissa through injury, while Jamaal Lascelles, John Ruddy, Harrison Ashby and Mark Gillespie are ineligible after the quartet weren’t named on the the 21-man ‘List A’ squad the club submitted to UEFA ahead of the competition getting underway.

UEFA rules allow clubs to submit a ‘List A’ of up to 25 players, if they include four ‘club-trained’ players. But in this instance, the Magpies could only name a squad of 21 due to the lack of club-trained players. A club-trained player is any player registered with their current club for at least three full seasons between the ages of 15 and 21, regardless of nationality.

Newcastle’s squad can be supplemented by their ‘List B’ squad, which allows them to name players born on or after January 1, 2004 that have played for the club for an uninterrupted period of two years. Lewis Hall and Lewis Miley are eligible through that criteria.

It also allows United to call up players from their academy. Max Thompson and Alex Murphy have featured in the Champions League matchday regularly this season, but 16-year-old Sam Alabi has been called up for the first time.

Alabi joined from Oldham Athletic two years ago and is set to be rewarded with a place on the bench against Marseille. Here’s Newcastle United’s 22-man squad in full: