Can Bundesliga clubs add to their European squads in January?

The January transfer window always sees players come and go at Bundesliga clubs - but how many of those arriving at German top-flight teams participating in the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Conference League will be able to play for their new side in European competition after the winter break? bundesliga.com explains.

Who can play from the start of the season?

Each club has to submit an A list of players to UEFA for each European competition according to a deadline that is based on when they enter that competition. 

For example, Bayern Munich had to submit their A list before midnight CET on 3 September 2024 as they were going straight into the UEFA Champions League league phase. 

What is the A list?

It is the list of players you would expect to play most games. It is limited to 25 players, eight of whom must be "locally trained players". 

What is a locally trained player? 

They have either been at the club's youth academy over three successive seasons between the ages of 15 and 21, or have been within the club's association, i.e. the DFB, over three seasons in the same age range. 

Bayern's Thomas Müller is an example of the first kind of locally trained player, while his Bayern teammate Leroy Sané, who was at the Schalke youth academy from the age of 15, would be an example of the second. There can be no more than four "association-trained players" among the eight on the A list. 

Bayern Munich's locally trained Thomas Müller (r.) and association-trained Leroy Sané (l.) in Champions League action earlier this season. - Alex Grimm

If a club is unable to add eight locally trained players to their A list, then the maximum number of players they can have in their squad is reduced accordingly.

What is the B list?

This contains players - for the 2024/25 season - born on or after 1 January 2003 and who have been at the club for two years or more, that includes being on loan at another club within the same association for no more than a year.

Players aged 16 can be put on List B if they have been registered with the club for the previous two years without interruption. 

For example, Bayern's B list for the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League contains Arijon Ibrahimović and Aleksandar Pavlović, who have been at Bayern since the ages of 12 and seven respectively, and therefore fulfil the criteria.

The number of players on the B list is - in theory - infinite, and all can be used in European competition.

The addition of in-form Germany U21 striker Nick Woltemade to VfB Stuttgart's Champions League squad would be a welcome boost to their prospects of reaching the knockouts. - IMAGO/Pressefoto Rudel/Robin Rudel

GET THE UPDATES!

What happens when new players arrive in January?

With the new formats of the European competitions, clubs will not be able to alter their squads immediately. 

Only after the league phase of each competition ends can they bring a maximum of three fresh faces into their squad. They have to complete those registrations by midnight CET on 6 February, 2025. 

Can a new player have already played in Europe this season?

A new player is allowed to have previously played for another club in any of the three European competitions this season, but the A list cannot exceed 25 players and the locally trained players rule still applies.

Are there any exceptions?

Yes, there is one, but it does not apply to the Bundesliga. 

Those clubs whose domestic championships run in a single calendar year can add four players to their squad if five players who were originally on their A list have left the club before the start of the start of the knockout phase. 

If more than seven players have left, they can add five new players to their A list.