Khedira axed from Juventus Champions League squad

Juventus veteran Sami Khedira has been left off the club's list of 23 players to play in the upcoming Champions League group stage.

The decision made by new coach Andrea Pirlo effectively means the 33-year-old is no longer in Juventus' plans for the campaign, having failed to be selected in either of their two Serie A squads since the start of the season.

Juve have been keen to find a mutual agreement with Khedira to terminate the last year of his contract, but discussions are yet to find a suitable outcome for both parties, with the German's wages worth €6 million net for the last 12 months.

Former Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic suffered a similar fate to Khedira after the arrival of Maurizio Sarri last summer, eventually reaching an agreement to end his association with the club in December last year to join Qatar's Al-Duhail, after being frozen out of the Old Lady's Serie A and Champions League squads.

After five successful years at Real Madrid where he won a Champions League and two La Liga titles, Khedira joined Juve in June 2015 on a free transfer.

The Germany international won the Serie A title in all five of his seasons in Turin, making 145 appearances in all competitions, scoring 21 goals and creating 13 assists.

His most famous individual moment in Juve colours came when he scored his only career hat-trick in a 6-2 win against Udinese in October 2017.

Khedira has been linked with a move to PSG, while Man Utd are also reportedly interested in the veteran's services.

Juventus have started solidly in the Serie A under new boss Pirlo with a comfortable 3-0 win at home against Sampdoria, before drawing 2-2 with Roma in the Italian capital.

However, the result of their third league match against Napoli is still up in the air after the contest was called off when Gennaro Gattuso's side failed to arrive at Juventus Stadium following two players being diagnosed with Covid-19.

Juventus are claiming they should be awarded a 3-0 walkover win despite Napoli's inability to travel after Piotr Zielinski and Eljif Elmas tested positive.

Juventus' Champions League 23-man squad

Szczesny, Chiellini, De Ligt, Arthur, Ronaldo, Ramsey, Morata, Dybala, Alex Sandro, Danilo, McKennie, Cuadrado, Bonucci, Church, Rabiot, Demiral, Bentancur, Pinsoglio, Bernardeschi, Frabotta, Portanova, Kulusevski, Buffon.