The official Premier League squad lists are in… and there was no shortage of stories around who did and did not make the cut.

Here, our experts pick the most intriguing storylines from their clubs. You can see a full list of each club’s players on the Premier League website.

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Arsenal

Gabriel Jesus has been included in Arsenal’s 25-man Premier League squad after missing out on their Champions League A List this month.

The Brazil international suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in January, with Arteta saying at a press conference on Friday that he hoped he would return to training around December.

If that is the case, he could work towards being included in Arsenal’s festive matches at Everton (December 20), and home against Brighton & Hove Albion (December 27) and Aston Villa (December 30).

Art de Roche

Aston Villa

There are few surprises here. While Ollie Watkins is the only recognised No 9, Villa have simply replaced outgoings this summer and the most notable inclusion is Emiliano Martinez after he was so keen on leaving for Manchester United on deadline day.

Deadline day provided plenty of drama at Villa Park with Victor Lindelof, Jadon Sancho and Harvey Elliott all arriving. The defender, winger and attacking midfielder are all in Unai Emery’s 25.

Jacob Tanswell

Bournemouth

Bournemouth’s homegrown players are the most interesting. Defender Owen Bevan, 21, has enjoyed productive loans away but now needs to kick on. Remaining at the club for the first half of the season and training under Andoni Iraola, will be a critical period if he is to make it at the Vitality Stadium. The same goes for 22-year-old forward Dominic Sadi.

Forward Enes Unal is included in the 25-man list, having suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in January. The nature of the break means recovery and rehabilitation is slow, so it is positive that he has been included.

Jacob Tanswell

Brentford

Brentford’s decision to promote former set-piece coach Keith Andrews to manager was rooted in a desire for continuity and he sprang no surprises with his selection.

High-profile departures Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo have been replaced with Dango Ouattara and loan signing Reiss Nelson, but their reliance on a slim core of trusted players remains. Last season, Brentford averaged just 1.2 changes per match to their starting XI, the fewest of any Premier League side.

Beyond that nucleus, experience drops away sharply. Irish left-back Valentino Adedokun, who joined in 2021 but has yet to feature in the league, makes the 25-man list. They are one short of the full quota, leaving room to sign a free agent. Among the U21s is midfielder Beau Redknapp, son of Jamie Redknapp.

Conor O’Neill

Brighton & Hove Albion

A list of 20 players, not 25, includes long-term injury victims Solly March and Adam Webster, plus goalkeeper Carl Rushworth who is on loan at Championship side Coventry City for the season.

The bulking out is explained by the number of under-21 players that can be regarded as part of Fabian Hurzeler’s plans. There are seven such players, including Greek signings Stefanos Tzimas and Charalampos Kostoulas.

Hurzeler did not want too many players competing for the same position. That is why Julio Enciso, Facundo Buonanotte, Tariq Lamptey and Matt O’Riley all completed moves on the final day of the transfer window.

Andy Naylor

Burnley

There are three senior absentees from Burnley’s 25-man list: defenders Hannes Delcroix and Jordan Beyer and forward Zeki Amdouni. None are surprising — Delcroix is not in Scott Parker’s plans while Beyer and Amdouni are injured.

One notable inclusion is Mike Tresor. The 26-year-old forward was initially signed by Vincent Kompany on a season-long loan from Gent in 2023 and, despite struggling, an obligation to buy was activated for £18million the following summer.

The move has not worked and he has been the subject of supporter frustration. While the expectation was he would leave in the summer window, he has stayed put.

Andy Jones

Chelsea

Anyone seeing the names Raheem Sterling, Axel Disasi and David Datro Fofana on Chelsea’s list may wonder if they have had some kind of reprieve. This is not the case.

The trio were all up for sale or loan during the summer window and told to train away from the main group. None of them were able to secure a move but this does not mean they will be welcomed back into the fold. They will have to carry on practising with a member of staff elsewhere at the club’s base in Cobham.

It will have to take significant injury problems for this situation to change and even then it is unlikely, with Chelsea having a lot of talent in the academy they can promote.

Simon Johnson

Crystal Palace

Palace named Jesurun Rak-Sakyi in their squad even though he was about to complete a loan move to Turkish side Caykur Rizespor. But also named was fellow 22-year-old Craig Farquhar, the centre-back who features only in the under-21 side and is not seen as a possible future first-team player.

Both were named because there is no benefit to naming fewer than 25 players and Palace have no other players over the age of 21 who they could put in their squad. Rak-Sakyi counts as a homegrown player, of which they named exactly the required eight.

It highlights the lack of options available to manager Oliver Glasner.

Matt Woosnam

Everton

No big surprises here. With Adam Aznou, the 19-year-old summer signing from Bayern Munich still eligible to be included in the under-21 group, manager David Moyes has two spaces on the main list at his disposal for January, if needed.

Moyes was keen to strengthen his defensive options before the end of the summer window, with options at right-back and centre-back coveted.

After naming an initial squad of 23, he has the scope to add to his options in January, should it be required.

Patrick Boyland

Fulham

They might be missing a central midfielder and defender, but even Marco Silva will be relieved that Fulham have named 23 players in their senior squad.

Two deadline-day signings — Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk and Samuel Chukwueze from Milan — added the pace and creativity Silva had been demanding all summer. Now, Fulham have options. Throw in 18-year-old Josh King and another late signing, Bayern Munich loanee Jonah Kusi-Asare, from their under-21 list, and Silva might even find himself struggling to provide game time to his more experienced players.

Alexander Borto is possibly the least recognisable name in the senior list, but the U.S. Under-20 goalkeeper does add to a well-honed ‘Fulhamerica’ tradition, too.

Justin Guthrie

Leeds United

The only striking aspect of Leeds United’s 25-man list is that they filled it. Leeds had been keen to add Harry Wilson to their squad on deadline day and someone in this list would have needed to make way for him.

Illan Meslier would likely have been left out altogether if Wilson had signed. The former No 1 has not even been a part of the travelling party this season, but an injury to Lucas Perri means he will provide cover.

Beren Cross

Liverpool

Federico Chiesa was gutted to miss out on Liverpool’s Champions League. squad, but the Italian forward is part of their 24-man list for the Premier League.

Chiesa, who came off the bench to score a crucial goal against Bournemouth on the opening night of the campaign, will be desperate to play more regularly after only clocking up 104 minutes of top-flight action in 2024-25.

There are no surprises in Liverpool’s squad, although Calvin Ramsay is included despite the Scottish right-back not playing a senior game for Liverpool since a League Cup tie against Derby County in November 2022.

Two of the seven homegrown spots are filled by players with little prospect of being involved such as goalkeeper Fabian Mrozek and defender Rhys Williams. Youngsters Rio Ngumoha, Giovanni Leoni, Trey Nyoni, Jayden Danns, Armin Pecsi and Stefan Bajcetic did not need to be named as they feature in the list of under-21 players.

James Pearce

Manchester City

Kalvin Phillips has finally been brought back out of the freezer.

The midfielder, who cost Manchester City £42m in July 2022, has made only 31 appearances under Pep Guardiola. He has not played at all since he featured in the final 13 minutes against Urawa Red Diamonds in the Club World Cup. Not the tournament played this summer — the one held in December 2023.

It seemed inevitable that he would leave on loan again this summer after two uninspiring spells at West Ham United and Ipswich Town. Instead, the late sales of Ederson, Manuel Akanji and Ilkay Gundogan freed up a spot in the squad.

However, there does not appear to be a plausible route into the team. Rodri has returned, Nico Gonzalez only joined in January, Mateo Kovacic is on his way back and Tijjani Reijnders can deputise at No 6.

Jordan Campbell

Manchester United

There are few surprises in Ruben Amorim’s 25-person squad list. United were successful in moving on four members of their five-person “bomb squad” this summer.

The one remaining player — Tyrell Malacia — makes the squad, but is unlikely to play meaningful minutes between now and the January transfer window. Under-23 player Rhys Bennett — who made 35 appearances on loan at Fleetwood Town last season — makes the senior squad list. He will be six or seventh choice option at centre-back.

Carl Anka

Newcastle United

All six of the summer signings are there, with Aaron Ramsdale ensuring there is a four-strong contingent of goalkeepers. Jamaal Lascelles is named, despite having been left out of recent squads.

The presence of Harrison Ashby, the 23-year-old right-back, is interesting, primarily because he has not made a first-team appearance since joining from West Ham in January 2023. He had been expected to go out on loan, but is eligible to play if necessary.

Lewis Hall and Lewis Miley’s respective ages mean they do not need to be named as senior players, but Will Osula is one of the full quota of 25, meaning a free agent cannot be signed and registered.

Chris Waugh

Nottingham Forest

Ola Aina’s serious hamstring injury, suffered on international duty with Nigeria, means he has not been included in Forest’s 25-man squad. He is expected to be ruled out until December, an early blow for new manager Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou will be grateful that Forest signed full backs Nicolo Savona and Oleksandr Zinchenko, with both included alongside the team’s established left back, Neco Williams.

With the exception of Cuiabano, who returned to Botafogo on loan after signing, all of the other 12 new additions are included, with Jair Cunha still qualifying as an under-21 player. Striker Taiwo Awoniyi also features, despite Forest being willing to listen to offers for him in the summer.

Paul Taylor

Sunderland

Sunderland’s squad illustrates the dramatic pace of change seen at the Stadium of Light this summer. Fourteen new signings in the window have transformed Regis Le Bris’ options and, ruthlessly, have led to others being left behind.

Ian Poveda, the Colombia international winger, still has another two years remaining on a Sunderland contract signed when joining from Leeds United before last season but his lowly standing is made clear by an omission from this season’s squad.

The same extends to French attacker Abdoullah Ba, once considered a promising talent in the Championship. He and Poveda were told they were free to find a new club and the squad list underlines again they remain very much surplus to requirements.

Phil Buckingham

Tottenham Hotspur

When Tottenham had to register their squad for the Champions League league phase, it was difficult to do. UEFA’s rules about home grown player requirements on the ‘A List’ meant that Thomas Frank had to cut four first teamers, leaving out Mathys Tel, whose signing from Bayern Munich was made permanent at the start of this summer, Yves Bissouma, Kota Takai and the injured James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Dragusin.

But there were no such concerns when it came to the Premier League. Bissouma is back, after proposed moves abroad fell through. Maddison, Dragusin and Kulusevski are all included. And Tel and Takai are on the under-21 List. So Bissouma, who has not made a matchday squad so far this season, theoretically has a way back into the Tottenham team. He just needs to convince Frank he is worth it.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

West Ham United

The noticeable inclusion in West Ham United’s list is the return of Lukasz Fabianski. The 40-year-old rejoined after being released in May and has replaced Wes Foderingham as third-choice goalkeeper. Fabianski had made more than 200 appearances in eight seasons and will provide back-up to Mads Hermansen and Alphonse Areola.

Midfielder Guido Rodriguez was expected to leave in the summer transfer window, but was unable to find new suitors. The 31-year-old is in the squad, along with new signings Mateus Fernandes, Kyle Walker-Peters, Callum Wilson, Hermansen, Soungoutou Magassa, El Hadji Malick Diouf and loanee Igor Julio.

Roshane Thomas

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves’ squad at the end of the transfer window appeared to be suffering from a shortage of a few things. And on this list, it is short of asterisks.

They are what signify homegrown players — players who have spent three years in England before their 21st birthday.

While the age when Britishness was deemed important in Premier League squads has thankfully passed, Wolves’ struggle to fill their homegrown quota can be seen as a proxy for their lack of Premier League experience.

Their 25-man squad includes six players defined as homegrown. But two of them, Sam Johnstone and Dan Bentley, are reserve goalkeepers and three others, Ki-Jana Hoever, Hugo Bueno and Tawanda Chirewa, boast 36 Premier League starts between them, 24 of which belong to 22-year-old Bueno.

The other, Matt Doherty, is at least a seasoned veteran.

Steve Madeley

(Top photos: Raheem Sterling, left, and Kalvin Phillips; Getty Images)