Keith Wyness reveals the reason Harwood-Bellis axed from Aston Villa's Champions League squad
Taylor Harwood-Bellis was not left out of Aston Villa's Champions League squad due to his ability or lack of experience at the top level.
That is according to former Villa chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that UEFA's financial rules have played a big role.
The Europa League champions signed Harwood-Bellis for £25million from Southampton during the summer, being viewed as a direct replacement for Ezri Konsa.
However, the 24-year-old has yet to make his debut for the Villans, and just days after signing, he was supposedly snubbed from Emery's Champions League squad.
Pau Torres, Victor Lindelof and Tyrone Mings were all included, while it is believed that Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Lamare Bogarde can feature at centre-back.
Supporters have certainly been left baffled by the decision, but it is understood to be far more complicated situation than just leaving a player out.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis misses out due to UEFA rules
Villa’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Villa Park between 2016 and 2018 and now runs a consultancy business advising elite clubs – believes UEFA's finance rules have added a complicated layer to Harwood-Bellis' inclusion.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness admitted to initially being surprised, but predicts that Harwood-Bellis is included in January.
"I was initially [surprised], and then you start looking at the technicalities behind it, and it seems that there have been 23 players registered," he said.
"This is opposed to 25, and that's because what they call List A has to be compliant with the SCR financial rules.
"And while selling Konsa certainly made them much more compliant, and that's, I think, one of only reasons they would have let him go, I think the Harwood-Bellis situation was probably marginal.
"It may be because it was so last minute as well, and they may not have been able to be compliant in terms of the UEFA List A rules.
"So I think it's more technicalities than it is actually a football assessment. We're finding more and more of these new technicalities that are coming up around settlements.
"I expect that he'll be OK for the new list, which would come out in January if they progress."
What are Aston Villa's chances of progressing in the Champions League?
After just one game, the Villans currently sit sixth in the Champions League table, having claimed a 3-2 win over Club Brugge on Tuesday, 8 September.
With Fenerbahce up next, Villa have a very good chance of securing automatic qualification for the quarter-finals, not just a play-off spot in the round of 16.
According to Opta, Emery's side have a 45.5 per cent chance of qualifying for the last 16, with their chances of quarter-final qualification dropping to 39.19 per cent.
After winning the Europa League last season, some fans may even be dreaming of more success, but their chances of lifting the title come in at 2.82 per cent.