Transfer ban sparks mayhem in Madrid
BALE LEFT IN LIMBO AT REAL
REAL Madrid and Atletico Madrid have been banned from signing players for two transfer windows in a FIFA ruling likely to have a major impact on the futures of Gareth Bale, David de Gea, Eden Hazard and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Both clubs will appeal against their punishments after they were found guilty of breaching regulations concerning the transfer of Under-18 players.
Last night they were torn between pushing through transfers this month or banking on the appeal process postponing any bans, freeing them to sign players next summer.
Paris Saint-Germain want Ronaldo to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Real are hopeful of bringing in Chelsea’s Hazard or Juventus’s Paul Pogba if the Portuguese star leaves.
Real have not ruled out trying again to land Spain goalkeeper de Gea despite him signing a new Manchester United contract last summer.
The Old Trafford giants, meanwhile, are willing to offer Bale a way out of Real Madrid — should he want one.
All moves could be off, however, if the ban stands.
Real could even try to force through a move for de Gea this month. The Spanish club believe they would be allowed to sign players and loan them back to clubs before taking them permanently at the end of the season — but United are unlikely to be interested in such a deal.
A more realistic Real target is Everton’s John Stones, who Rafa Benitez wanted to sign before the Bernabeu club fired him and installed Zinedine Zidane as boss.
Chelsea believe their chances of making Diego Simeone their manager in the summer have been boosted by the possibility his hands will be tied in the transfer market if he stays at Atletico. The Madrid clubs were informed of their transfer bans by FIFA yesterday. Atletico were also hit with a £620,000 fine while Real were fined £250,000.
Both clubs insist that all of the Under-18s players cited by FIFA were registered correctly with the
“Chelsea think they can now land Simeone”
Spanish FA and that the ruling is unjust.
‘We are not contemplating the possibility that common sense will not prevail and that the club’s appeal to FIFA will not be upheld,’ said Real Madrid’s chief executive Jose Angel Sanchez.
‘If it is not successful then, of course, we will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).’
Barcelona used similar stalling tactics when they received the same length of ban in 2014, allowing them to land Luis Suarez while their appeal was held.
While both Real and Atletico have been publicly putting their fingers in their ears and humming loudly so as not to hear the threatening noises coming out of FIFA in recent weeks, they both suspected that they might be hit with a ban for two transfer windows.
And they have been making contingency plans towards that end. That is why Real bought right-back Danilo last January, along with Spain Under-21 sensation Marco Asensio, who is back at Mallorca on loan and can be recalled in the summer. It is also why squad midfielder Mateo Kovacic arrived in the summer and 24-year-old Lucas Vazquez came back from Espanyol.
The squad was freshened up and rejuvenated with one eye on a possible ban.
Atletico were also active last summer and in the first week of this transfer window.
They signed or brought back from loan spells 20 players, while big signings Jackson Martinez, Luciano Vietto, Yannick Carrasco and Filipe Luis were brought in to bolster not just the squad but the first team.
Barca won the Treble while banned from acquiring players. And they signed them anyway, with players willing to join knowing they could not be immediately registered.
That will be what Atletico are telling manager Simeone as they try to persuade him to stay.
However, the messages from Chelsea will be very different — join us in the summer and you can sign who you want, when you want.