Sky Sports presenter Joe Thomlinson has argued that Chelsea January signing Benoit Badiashile should have been included in their Champions League squad for the rest of the season.

What happened with Chelsea's Champions League registration?

Chelsea's busy January transfer window saw them sign six first-team players, and as only three could be registered for the Champions League by UEFA rules, at least three had to miss out.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was among those unregistered to make room for Mykhailo Mudryk, Joao Felix and Enzo Fernandez, but there was no room for the centre-back from Monaco.

Badiashile has performed well in an otherwise struggling Chelsea side since his arrival, and it has now been claimed that he should have been included in the Champions League squad.

Chelsea knocked out Borussia Dortmund to set up a quarter-final tie against Real Madrid, and the 21-year-old could be a big miss against the European champions.

Speaking on Football Daily's YouTube channel, Thomlinson praised the performances of Badiashile before expressing his frustration over his exclusion from the European squad.

He said: "I actually think the best under-21 [talent] at the club right now is big Benoit Badiashile, who I think is sensational.

"It's so hard to find a left-footed centre-back that is comfortable on the ball and physical enough to play in the Premier League – let alone aged 21.

"He has come in from Monaco, where he was having a really, really good season and been a bit of a gamechanger.

"Chelsea have been a mess, but they've [mainly] been a mess in attacking areas. I think by goals conceded, they are third or fourth in the league, and I think Badiashile has played a part in that.

"I think for him to miss out on the Champions League squad was pretty disgraceful, I think he should have been in, I really do.

"You look at some of his underlying numbers, especially his passing range for a player that is such a unit… he's so intelligent, so silky on the ball, his first touch is brilliant.

"I think he has a massive, massive future at the club."

Should Badiashile have been included?

Although his performances have been impressive – ranking highly amongst his peers for progressive passes and aerial duels over the past year as per FBref – the £90k-per-week Frenchman was merely just a victim of circumstance.

Both Fernandez and Mudryk arrived for extraordinarily high transfer fees, meaning that neither were likely to be excluded, whilst loanee Joao Felix was virtually guaranteed to be included given the short-term nature of his deal.

Chelsea had Thiago Silva, Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly, Trevoh Chalobah, Cesar Azpilicueta and Marc Cucurella in the squad as centre-back options for the knockout stages, meaning that they were well-stocked without Badiashile.

Therefore, the centre-back was perhaps always unlikely to be included ahead of an attacker, and Badiashile's exclusion was simply poor luck rather than a reflection of his ability. And given they have scraped through to the quarter-finals, Graham Potter won't be regretting his decision just yet.