Paperwork holding up West Ham transfer, complicated situation, clubs may be nervous

 

Jonathan Calleri leaving West Ham to sign for Las Palmas is, unsurprisingly, getting messy. On Sunday, Las Palmas’ local media reported that Calleri was expected to fly in, but there’s been no confirmation of the player’s arrival.

Canarias7 still reckon the deal is on, and explain that Las Palmas made that clear a couple of weeks ago, but they believe there’s paperwork holding things up.

It’s claimed FIFA have to give special allowance because Calleri has played for three different teams in less than a year. He hasn’t, it’s two so far, Sao Paulo and West Ham, and Las Palmas would be the third.

They would all be loan moves, with Calleri owned by second division Uruguayan side Deportivo Maldonado, which is used as a vehicle for investors. The idea is to buy South American talent, loan the players to Europe, and then sell for a big profit.

If the rule was yearly, Calleri probably wouldn’t be able to leave West Ham for anyone other than Sao Paulo, but FIFA state it’s per season.

‘Players may be registered with a maximum of three clubs during one season. During this period, the player is only eligible to play official matches for two clubs. As an exception to this rule, a player moving between two clubs belonging to associations with overlapping seasons (i.e. start of the season in summer/autumn as opposed to winter/spring) may be eligible to play in official matches for a third club during the relevant season, provided he has fully complied with his contractual obligations towards his previous clubs. Equally, the provisions relating to the registration periods (article 6) as well as to the minimum length of a contract (article 18 paragraph 2) must be respected.’

Even so, before moving to West Ham, Calleri played in three competitions in Brazil, all with different start and end dates for their season:

Copa Libertadores: January to July

State Championships: January to May

Brazilian League/Cup: May to December

Therefore FIFA would have to give approval to his West Ham exit because of the overlap, but it shouldn’t be too much trouble given the differing calendar seasons.

That can’t be the only hold up. AS reported on Sunday that West Ham are having doubts about letting Calleri go, because he scored at the weekend and the club would like the depth in their squad.

What could also hold the deal up is that Las Palmas are looking to sign Hernán Toledo at the same time. And should own Toldeo? Yes, the same Deportivo Maldonado who own Calleri and loan him to West Ham.

Las Palmas and those behind Deportivo Maldonado may well be slightly nervous about wheeling all this in front of FIFA.