Jones and 3 others added to Manchester United’s Champions League squad
The Reds have dropped Amad Diallo, Donny van de Beek, and Anthony Martial from their squad after they all left on loan during the January transfer window.
According to the Manchester Evening News, fourth-choice goalkeeper Grant and center-back Jones have been added to the list of players eligible for the increasingly critical two-legged encounter against the defending La Liga winners.
Grant’s participation is probable due to academy goalkeeper Matej Kovar’s loan move to League One club Burton Albion on deadline day.
The 39-year-old has only appeared twice for Manchester United. His most recent outing came in a Europa League dead rubber against Astana in Kazakhstan in November 2019, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made a handful of debuts for the club’s young players.
His debut came in the Carabao Cup against his former club Derby County, where he came on as a replacement after Sergio Romero was sent off. We were defeated on penalties in the cup tie.
Jones, who has made two appearances for Ralf Rangnick’s Reds since returning from injury, hasn’t played in the Champions League since April 2019, when he played at right-back in a 3-0 defeat at the Nou Camp.
After the January transfer window, UEFA permits clubs to make up to three changes to their Champions League squads.
United have to submit their ‘List A’ players to UEFA by 11 p.m. on February 1, but they can still add List B players under the age of 21 before each matchday.
United already had Matej Kovar, Teden Mengi, Bjorn Hardley, Hannibal Mejbri, Charlie Wellens, Charlie Savage, Zidane Iqbal, Sam Mather, Anthony Elanga, and Shola Shoretire on their B list after Rangnick played a youthful side in the group stage dead rubber against Young Boys.
United will play the first leg at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Wednesday, February 23, before returning to Old Trafford on Tuesday, March 15.
UEFA no longer uses the away goals rule to determine the winner of knockout stage games when the scores are tied after two legs.
Instead, the extra time and penalties will be used to break the deadlock.
