How Vinicius Jr will stop Real Madrid signing Sadio Mane or Raheem Sterling

8 Jun 2022 16:06 BST
3 min read

Vinicius Junior celebrates his goal against Liverpool — © ProShots

Real Madrid are out of the race to sign the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Sadio Mane and Raheem Sterling as they do not have any space to register non-EU players in their squad.

La Liga regulations only allow teams three spots for non-EU players, places that Real have already filled with Brazilian trio Eder Militao, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.

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Madrid were planning on Vinicius having received Spanish citizenship by now after residing in the country for four years, however the process is still backlogged due to the pandemic.

The situation will not be resolved until after the summer, meaning Real cannot pursue players such as Jesus and Mane, who were initially considered targets by the club.

What are the rules surrounding Real and their non-EU players?

Players of certain nationalities, including Brazil, are able to apply for Spanish citizenship after two years of residency in order to avoid taking up a non-EU spot in the squad.

Brazilian youngster Reinier and Takefusa Kubo of Japan are also considered non-EU players and will likely spend another season away from Real on loan.

Kubo, in particular, will not gain Spanish nationality anytime soon as he would require ten years of residency in addition to giving up his Japanese passport because Japan does not allow dual citizenship.

It means Madrid are limited to signing European nationals only, or players like Raphinha of Leeds, who is Brazilian but has an Italian passport allowing him to be classified as an EU player.

They could, however, sell one of their key non-EU players in order to register any new ones but that is unlikely to be considered by the club.

🚨 || Vinicius Junior applied for a Spanish passport a year ago, but his file is one of 300,000 waiting. His situation can also go on for longer - There are files from 2016 that have not yet been processed [Via - @Ellarguero].
— Dean James (@DeanJamesAFC) June 7, 2022

British players also come under that category now due to Brexit and they, like Japan, would require ten years of citizenship compared to the two offered to certain South American countries.

The rule would also affect Gareth Bale, who was exempt from non-EU status as he was registered by Madrid prior to Brexit but now the Welshman would take up a foreign spot if he were to remain in Spain with another club.