Barcelona have confirmed the signing of Boca Juniors teenage defender Santiago Ramos Mingo amid controversy in Argentina.
The central defender celebrated his 18th birthday in November and is thus available to make a move to European football but the Buenos Aires club insist that the deal is not legal.
The defender has yet to make his debut for the Boca senior side – although he has played in friendlies – and has not signed a professional deal at the club, meaning the Blaugrana believed they could sign him, as initially reported by TyC Sports in his native Argentina in October 2019.
“We will look for who is responsible for this deal as the player cannot be free,” Boca president Jorge Amor Ameal fumed.
“Legally we are in a position to state that the player is ours, in line with FIFA regulations, and our lawyers are working on this.”
Jose María Bakero, Barcelona’s head of youth development, is said to be the man behind the move and the player was presented officially as a Barca player on Tuesday
Ramos Mingo was a member of Boca’s pre-season tour where he played in a friendly against Chivas and was on the bench for the Copa Libertadores last-16 match against Athletico Paranaense but did not feature for the senior team.
Image via @BocaJrsOfficial
