Iraola Backs Ekitike for Champions League as Chiesa and Endo Omitted

Andoni Iraola has made his first big European call of the season at Liverpool – and it is as ruthless as it is revealing.

Hugo Ekitike, still working his way back from a ruptured Achilles, has been named in Liverpool’s 25-man Champions League squad. Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo have not.

It is a decision that cuts straight to the heart of Iraola’s plans.

A Vote of Faith in Ekitike

Ekitike has not kicked a ball for Liverpool since April, when his season was wrecked by a serious Achilles injury. Surgery went well, the club say, and the France international is now in the long, lonely grind of rehabilitation.

Liverpool’s official line, as of September 3, is clear: there is no set return date. No countdown, no target circled on the calendar.

Iraola has effectively drawn one for him.

By placing the 22-year-old striker in his Champions League squad, the Liverpool manager is betting that Ekitike will be ready to contribute in the League Phase, which runs deep into the winter. Liverpool’s final game of that phase comes against RC Lens at Anfield on January 27. Ekitike’s inclusion strongly hints Iraola expects him to be available by then – or at least close enough to justify the slot.

In a squad capped at 25, every place carries weight. To hand one to an injured forward with no official return date is not a gesture. It is a statement of belief.

Chiesa Left Looking In

The flip side is brutal.

Federico Chiesa, a marquee name and a player of genuine pedigree, does not make the cut. The Italian winger is currently sidelined, but he is expected back in training after the September international break.

Fit soon. But not trusted enough for Europe.

Leaving Chiesa out signals where he stands in Iraola’s hierarchy. With Champions League minutes off the table, his chances in domestic competitions also look thin. The message is not subtle: he is on the outside, and the path back in looks steep.

For a player of his status, that is a jarring place to be.

Endo’s Cult Status Doesn’t Save Him

If Chiesa’s omission is surprising, Wataru Endo’s is damning.

Endo is fit. Ready. Available. And still ignored.

Iraola has simply chosen not to take him to Europe. In a squad limited by registration quotas, the defensive midfielder has been judged surplus to requirements.

That decision lands just weeks after former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher delivered a blunt verdict on both players’ prospects this season. Speaking on The Overlap, Carragher said Liverpool had “two players in the squad who are never going to play,” naming Chiesa and Endo and arguing that Endo “should have been moved on” despite becoming “a bit of a cult hero.”

Iraola’s list for Europe reads like an endorsement of that assessment.

Endo’s popularity with sections of the fanbase, his reputation as a reliable squad man – none of it has shifted the manager’s view. In the cold arithmetic of elite-level selection, sentiment has not stood a chance.

Futures in the Balance at Anfield

For Ekitike, this is a lifeline. For Chiesa and Endo, it feels like the start of the exit ramp.

Champions League registration does not just shape a season; it often shapes careers. Ekitike has been given the clearest sign yet that Iraola sees him as part of Liverpool’s medium-term project, even as he rehabs far from the pitch.

Chiesa and Endo have been handed the opposite message. With European football off the table and domestic minutes expected to be scarce, their Liverpool futures now hang by a thread.

The squad is set. The stakes are obvious. The question is no longer where they stand today, but whether either of them will still be at Anfield when the next European list is drawn up.