by joe apu

New Manchester City signing, Gabriel Jesus has been named ahead of Kelechi Iheanacho in the club’s squad for the UEFA Champions League knockout stages.

City will face Monaco February 21 at the Etihad in the first leg of one of the round of 16 pairings.

Iheanacho has not featured for Pep Guardiola’s side since coming off the bench in the 4-0 defeat to Everton last month.

According to City’s website, the Nigerian youngster is not entirely out of the Champions League campaign as he is still eligible for selection. Kelechi, who scored 2 goals in the group stages, lost his place to new signing Gabriel Jesus.

The 21-man list includes two new additions from the Group Stage, with Gabriel Jesus and Yaya Toure both being made available for the remainder of the competition.

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Ilkay Gundogan’s continued recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury sees him removed from the list, along with Kelechi Iheanacho, though the striker remains eligible for selection.

The Nigerian now meets the requirements to be named on UEFA’s ‘List B’, which allows clubs to register an unlimited number of players, provided they fulfill such criteria as being born on, or after, 1 January 1995; and has been eligible to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday.

The likes of Tosin Adarabioyo and Angus Gunn – who have previously been named in matchday squads during this European campaign – are similarly still available for selection by virtue of being named on ‘List B’.

The list includes goalkeepers Claudio Bravo, Willy Caballero. Defenders are Bacary Sagna, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Aleksandar Kolarov, Gael Clichy, John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi.

In the midfield, the club will parade Fernando, Raheem Sterling, Yaya Toure, Jesus Navas, Kevin De Bruyne, Fabian Delph, Leroy Sane, David Silva and Fernandinho while the attacking options are Nolito, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus.