FC Barcelona target Julian Alvarez can exploit a legal loophole and cancel his Atletico Madrid contract in order to join the Catalans.

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FC Barcelona target Julian Alvarez can exploit a legal loophole and cancel his Atletico Madrid contract in order to join the Catalans.

As explained by Mundo Deportivo, FIFA will be pretty much powerless to intervene in a dispute between the two clubs over the Argentine.

Instead, Spanish legal frameworks will apply. The Royal Decree 1006/1985 pertains to professional athletes in Spain, and would first point to Alvarez’s $568 million (€500 million) release clause.

Players have to pay the clauses personally in Spain, or at least deliver the money attached to them to La Liga’s offices.

Yet Article 16 throws up another potential scenario. It states that “the termination of the contract by the will of the professional athlete, without cause attributable to the club, will give the club, where appropriate, the right to compensation that, in the absence of an agreement in this regard, will be set by the labor jurisdiction based on the circumstances of a sporting nature, damage caused to the entity, reasons for the breakup and other elements that the player considers estimable.”

In layman’s terms, this means that Alvarez can unilaterally break his contract with Atletico Madrid, which expires in mid-2030, and later sign for FC Barcelona without having paid the clause or any transfer fee.

The courts would then decide the corresponding compensation that the Catalans must hand over to the Rojiblancos. Previous $116 million (€100 million) bids from Barça, and a $175 million (€150 million) offer from Real Madrid, are potential reference points.