Yahoo Sport 
Aston Villa have already dropped their biggest clue over January transfer plan
Aston Villa will look to make room in their squad before they make additions in January.
That's because they have no space in their UEFA Champions League squad to simply add a player without making an adjustment. Villa named 23 players in their 25-man squad because four slots are reserved for 'club-trained' players and only Jacob Ramsey and Jaden Philogene qualify.
Therefore, if Villa want to add a player to their Champions League squad for the knockouts rounds, they will need to either sell, loan or drop a player from their current roster. UEFA rules allow a club to register a maximum of three new eligible players for the remaining matches in the current competition after the completion of the league phase and before the start of the knockout phase.
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Such registrations must be completed by 6 February 2025 (24:00 CET) at the latest. Last year, Villa added Morgan Rogers, Joe Gauci and Tim Iroegbunam to their Europa Conference League squad, while Bertrand Traore and Leander Dendoncker were removed. Calum Chambers was also omitted despite remaining at the club until the summer.
Clubs are also able to submit an unlimited number of players on list B, who have to be born after 1 January 2003 and have been eligible to play for the club concerned for a minimum of two years without interruption.
Diego Carlos courted interest in the summer, but a move away from Villa never materialised. If he had left, Villa would have looked to sign Lutsharel Geertruida from Feyenoord. The Dutch international signed for RB Leipzig instead because Villa couldn't bring him in due to the size of their squad and financial restrictions.
Villa had to balance their books in the summer and made over £100m in player sales after flogging the likes of Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby. By the end of the summer window, they had limited flexibility despite qualifying for the Champions League last season.
Villa could recruit a new defender and essentially swap Carlos out for them, if of course there is a deal to be done regarding the Brazilian. There may also be interest from elsewhere in taking Kosta Nedeljkovic on loan.
The teenager has only made one appearance in the Champions League this season, which was a 10 minute cameo in the defeat to Club Brugge. He hasn't been included in the last four Premier League matchday squads.
