English club Bolton Wanderers have raised questions over the transfer of Marcos Alonso from Chelsea to FC Barcelona in the summer window of last year.
In doing so, the third-division club from England have joined forces with Union Adarve in claiming irregularities in Alonso’s transfer and denouncing Barça.
Alonso joined Barcelona in the summer of last year, arriving on a free transfer after his contract with the Blues was terminated. Meanwhile, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang moved the other way in a deal worth €12 million.
Union Adarve, where Alonso had spent some time during his youth career, had questioned the legitimacy of the deal, citing that Chelsea and Barcelona had tried to hide the transfer fee of Alonso by lowering Aubameyang’s valuation.
“Adarve saw this as a possible covert exchange of players in which Chelsea and FC Barcelona had agreed on the transfer of Aubameyang for €12 million, to which would have been added the ‘free release’ of Marcos Alonso, which would have considerably reduced the price of Aubameyang, whose market value would be far from the €12 million finally paid,” the Spanish RFEF Segunda Division club had stated.
As per FIFA’s solidarity scheme, a small percentage of any transfer fee for a footballer must go to his training clubs since he was twelve years old. Alonso had spent time at Union Adarve in the early parts of his career and they believe that they are owed compensation for his move to Camp Nou.
Now, Bolton have also joined them in filing a complaint with FIFA over the same, as they are also seeking financial compensation from Barcelona for Alonso’s signing, with the left-back having spent time at the club when he was 19 years old.
FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber has already heard from Adarve and Barcelona over the matter, with the two parties waiting for a decision. With Bolton also now following suit, it will be interesting to see what the governing body decides in the matter.
