Malaga’s coveted striker Sandro Ramirez has passed a Saturday morning medical ahead of a €6m move to fellow La Liga side Atletico Madrid.
According to Radio Marca, Ramirez, temporarily left the Spain U21 team currently preparing for the UEFA European U21 Championship this month in Poland, to undergo the medical in Madrid on Saturday morning,
The former Barcelona youth team player, who scored 14 league goals last season, is likely to become Atletico’s first signing this summer.
However, even if the move does take place in the coming days, Sandro will be unable to play for his new club until January 2018, after Atletico’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to have their transfer ban reduced was denied.
Athletico Madrid cannot register new players until 2018, after FIFA ruled that they had broken laws on the international transfers of junior players.
The terms of Atleti’s transfer ban do not prevent them from bringing in players but as they cannot be registered until January. It remains to be seen what arrangement may yet be made to ensure Sandro maintains match fitness, and one option may be that the player is loaned back to Malaga for the first half of the coming season.
The move also may trigger a chain reaction across Europe, as Sandro’s other suitors Everton continue to seek to replace the seemingly outgoing Romelu Lukaku, while rumours of an Atleti move for Alexandre Lacazette are likely to be thrown into doubt.