Chelsea must register their new signings to play in the Champions League by Thursday - but UEFA laws mean three players will miss out.

The Lowdown: Chelsea’s window

The Blues were undoubtedly the club of the January transfer window, with Graham Potter welcoming €329.5m (£288.9m) worth of talent to Stamford Bridge last month, with seven arriving through the door and £26.3m signing Malo Gusto heading back on loan to Lyon for the remainder of the campaign (via Sky Sports).

Chelsea are currently 10th in the Premier League table with just two wins coming in their previous six league games as they slip further behind the top four and qualification for next season’s Champions League.

However, they’re still in the elite European competition after four straight wins saw them top Group E and set up a last-16 tie against German side Borussia Dortmund.

The Latest: Player registration

With the Champions League knockout stages beginning after the winter window, UEFA allows teams to register up to three new players from their group stage roster.

Kaveh Solhekol discussed this on Sky Sports, as with eight new signings, Potter has a huge dilemma on his hands as to who he registers.

Solhekol said: “They need to let UEFA know by 11pm [Thursday] which three players they want to add to their Champions League squad.

“UEFA’s rules say that you can only add three new players that you’ve signed in the January window to your squad.

“Malo Gusto, one of their signings - he’s staying on loan at Lyon, so forget about him. Andrey Santos, young Brazilian, he doesn’t have a work permit - forget about him.

“So then it’s three from six. You would think Noni Madueke and David Datro Fofana would miss out because they’re quite young.

“So then you’re left with four. All four big-money signings; only three of them can get in the Champions League squad. Those four are Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk, Joao Felix and Benoit Badiashile.

“That is something that Graham Potter has to decide.”

The Verdict: Unhappy stars?

Potter must have revelled in the fact that he would have several new talents at his disposal, but he’s been left with an almost immediate headache that could leave some fresh faces unhappy from the get-go.

As Solhekol said, of the eight signings, Gusto and Santos are ineligible, whilst Fofana hasn’t featured in the league since arriving, seemingly making his omission clear. However, Madueke could be left disappointed given his previous three appearances in the Europa League for PSV Eindhoven this season, who still remain in the competition.

The sticking point will surely be whether Felix or Badiashile get the nod, with Fernandez and Mudryk both costing north of €70m (£61.5m) (as per Goal). Given the centre-back played 90 minutes of the two previous league outings and kept a clean sheet in both, Potter will surely be reluctant to omit him.

It’s certainly given the Englishman a huge decision to make, and one that could cause unrest in the dressing room already if those set to miss out weren’t already aware of this potential situation, so it’s not all rosy for the manager who got to splash close to £300m in one month.