The reported transfer plan for Manchester United to sign Alvaro Carreras and then sell him to Real Madrid may not be viable after all.
That’s at least according to O Jogo, who report that FIFA’s regulations would block such a transfer from taking place.
A report this week indicated that Real Madrid are keen on the left-back but don’t want to pay his release clause at Benfica. Instead, they want Manchester United to use an €18m buy-back clause they have on the player before then selling him for €30-35m.
It was a deal that would suit all parties, except Benfica, as Manchester United make a nice profit and Real Madrid get Carreras for a figure lower than his current release clause.
O Jogo, though, point out that FIFA’s transfer regulations block such ‘bridge transfers’ from taking place.
Their current rules prohibit the use of bridging transfers, which they describe as “two consecutive transfers, national or international, of the same player in a period of 16 weeks.”
Real Madrid’s plan for Carreras would certainly fall under that and they would have to potentially leave him at Manchester United until the January transfer window before taking him to the Santiago Bernabeu. FIFA’s rules include “sanctions for the parties involved” if any such bridge transfers ever take place.
Getting him out of Benfica may not be all that easy anyway, with Record reporting that the Portuguese side intend to renew Carreras’ deal. He has so far resisted that as he has a deal until 2029 currently.
That includes the €50m release clause Madrid don’t want to pay, but all indications so far have been that he ‘intends to stay at Luz’ this summer anyway.
Perhaps Manchester United and Real Madrid have a plan to get around this but in Portugal at least, they’re insistent their current transfer plan won’t be allowed.
