Barcelona in hot water over Marcos Alonso transfer

Jacque Talbot

Updated: 16 Feb 2023 13:20 GMT
3 min read

Barcelona may be facing sanctions and a possible fine over their signing of Marcos Alonso.

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AS Report that Union Adarve, a football club based in Madrid, has taken a claim to the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber, accusing the Catalans of irregularities around their swoop of the defender in September of last year.

They claim the La Liga side owes them money for the transfer - which was done after his contract with Chelsea ended.

But the side claim it was made with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang heading the other way.

FIFA has established a system whereby a small percentage of a transfer must go to the footballer's training clubs.

Alonso was trained mainly in the Real Madrid academy, but he also went through Adarve, who now believe that they are owed a percentage.

The case will be handled by Jorge Vaquero, a former legal advisor to the Spanish Football Federation and FIFA.

His V Sports Legal firm believe that the departure of Aubameyang to Chelsea and the arrival of Alonso are not different transfers and so Adarve are owed money.

Their evidence is the fact that they feel the €12m Chelsea paid for the Gabonese striker is below market value and that Alonso, therefore, must have counted towards the fee.

If FIFA finds that this is the case, they could sanction or fine Barcelona.

It comes after Barcelona were accused of paying more than £1m across three seasons to the former vice president of La Liga referees - in a major corruption scandal.

© ProShots - Alonso joined Barcelona after his spell at Chelsea

Xavi praises 'extraordinary' Alonso

Alonso has already committed to a new contract at Barca, having initially penned a 12-month deal.

Xavi has said he has been impressed by the Spaniard since he joined up with the side “We had already spoken about that with the club. I’m very pleased with Marcos and happy this is moving forward.

“He has settled into the dressing room perfectly. He’s an extraordinary guy.

“(He’s) a reliable footballer, with a lot of experience under his belt and mature enough to play in multiple roles. He’s been a high-level signing.”