Julian Araujo’s move from LA Galaxy to Barcelona will not be permitted by FIFA after documentation for the transfer was filed too late, the LaLiga club confirmed on Friday.
Barca and LA Galaxy agreed a fee potentially rising to €4 million for Araujo to move to the Spanish club on Tuesday.
However, Barcelona director of football Mateu Alemany said that a “system error” caused the club to miss the midnight deadline at the end of the transfer window by just 18 seconds but he hoped for a review to allow the deal to be concluded.
A FIFA spokesperson told ESPN on Friday that the deal would not be permitted
“FIFA can confirm that the transfer of the player Julian Araujo from LA Galaxy to FC Barcelona was not completed in line with the applicable regulations,” they said.
Tuesday was the final of the January transfer window in the majority of European leagues and Barca can now not sign anyone else until the summer.
“This is, I think, the second window that we’ve had some interaction with them (Barcelona) about Julian (Araujo)”, Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said on Thursday after Araujo returned to team’s practice.
“The discussion about what a deal would actually look like, started to get really clear and negotiating. So, it was over the last three to four days where those discussions started to pick up and get momentum. And things started to happen fast, hence the reason why it went down to the wire. But it’s clearly someone that they’ve had on their radar because in previous windows they’ve poked around and asked about him.”
It was not the only transfer to miss the deadline, with Hakim Ziyech’s switch to Paris Saint-Germain on loan from Chelsea also falling foul of the stated timeframe.
Araujo, 21, was set to sign for Barca’s reserve team in the Spanish third tier but the plan was for him to be in and around the first team, who have no recognised right-back after Hector Bellerin joined Sporting Club this week.
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