A lawyer representing Alen Halilovic has said the teenager’s transfer to Barcelona will go ahead despite the club’s transfer ban.
Jean Louis Dupont told Spanish radio station Esports RAC1 that because the Halilovic transfer was completed before the ban was imposed, it should still go through.
“I can’t imagine that my client will not play for Barcelona. This is a pre-penalty operation,” Sport reports Dupont as saying.
Barca are appealing the sanction but it is not yet known if the signing of Halilovic – or the rumoured purchase of Marc-Andre Ter Stegen – will be effected.
Dupont, who was involved in the famous of Jean-Marc Bosman that led to a major change in the transfer system in the 1990s, applauded FIFA’s stance on the matter of the transfer of players under the age of 18.
But Dupont argued Barca were acting in the interest of the players concerned, such is the high standard of their facilities.
“FIFA has done well in identifying there’s a problem but I think they are giving out the wrong medicine,” Dupont continued.
“If FIFA’s ban doesn’t allow a future for a child and his family, then it’s wrong.
“It strikes me that if Barca sign a kid of 11, guarantees are given that he will have proper training in a good environment.”
