Several reports in South America this afternoon are claiming that Ecuadorian youngster Moises Caicedo is moving to Manchester United.
The first to report it was Youtube channel Futbol Bohemio, who on their Twitter account claimed there’s a done deal for the Independiente Del Valle starlet.
The outlet says there’s an agreement between Manchester United, the Ecuadorian club and the player, and his contract would be signed in the coming hours, before the change in the Premier League rules for foreign signings.
It would be assumed the rule change they refer to is regarding work permits, but that seems a strange claim. The new rules, at least the ones which make it more difficult to sign certain players, mainly relate to players from the EU, which Caicedo isn’t and he isn’t listed as having an EU passport. Even then, given he could only be registered from January onward, because that’s when the window opens, he would still have to go through a work permit process.
Indeed, the new rules may even make it easier to sign some South American players given how international caps and Copa Libertadores appearances are counted. A problem could arise due to Ecuador only being ranked 56th in the world by FIFA.
Journalist Marco López Castillo, who broke the news about the talks at the weekend, came up claiming there’s indeed ‘white smoke’ for the transfer. He says that’s all he can say for now.
In yesterday’s updates, claiming he’s learned it along with Futbol Bohemio, Marco López Castillo had said that Independiente wanted to sell only 80% of Caicedo’s rights, and Manchester United had made a counter-offer.
Perhaps that’s what the Ecuadorian side are taking now. It’s still early afternoon in Ecuador, so there could be some more updates tonight, and it’s worth keeping an eye out for any more news on the work permit situation.
