Real Madrid News
Official: Real Madrid to appear in legal proceedings for Barcelona-Negreira case
Real Madrid have released an official statement, citing their concerns over the findings of an investigation involving Barcelona and their alleged involvement in the Enriquez Negreira payoff scandal.
The investigation had accused Barcelona of being a part of the corruption that involved payments to Enriquez Negreira worth up to €7 million, for insights regarding refereeing. There are claims of payments being made to manipulate results too.
Barcelona are said to be charged by the Prosecutor’s office in Spain, and if proven, the club could face serious sanctions.
The entire ordeal had led to Real Madrid calling for a meeting of its Board of Directors, just before the Espanyol game, leaving Barcelona very attentive to the situation.
The Spanish champions have now come up with an official statement, which suggests that the club will appear in legal proceedings.
“Real Madrid expresses its deep concern about the seriousness of the facts and reiterates its full confidence in the action of justice and has agreed that, in defense of its legitimate interests, it will appear in the procedure as soon as the judge opens it to the parties harmed,” the statement reads.
Although Real Madrid and Barcelona have acted together in good faith in recent years, especially in matters related to the Super League, Real Madrid’s involvement in the legal proceedings could raise tension between the two entities.
It is astounding that despite being the biggest club in Spain, Real Madrid do not have many Spanish players to show for it.
Los Blancos do indeed boast of a special diversity in the dressing room, but their lack of locally trained players could pose problems according to MARCA.
The Spanish outlet confirms that UEFA does not mandate the inclusion of any minimum number of locally grown players for a club. However, the Spanish federation stipulates that a club in Spain must boast of at least eight players who meet a specific set of conditions.
Of the aforementioned eight candidates, there must be at least four players who have spent three seasons or 36 months at the club between the ages of 15 and 21.
Currently, only Nacho Fernandez, Dani Carvajal, Lucas Vazquez, Federico Valverde, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Mariano make up the required number on that front.
The problem, however, arises with the condition for the other four players in the list of eight. RFEF stipulates that the second set of four players must have completed at least 36 months in teams attached to the federation of Spain between the ages of 15 and 21.
Only Jesus Vallejo, Alvaro Odriozola, Marco Asensio and Dani Ceballos tick the aforementioned box. However, all four players have uncertain futures at the club and are well-placed to depart in the summer.
There are thus big decisions to be taken over the transfer strategy for June. Real Madrid can work ways to ship all four players out, it would require the re-integration of players like Sergio Arribas, Miguel Gutierrez or Fran Garcia to ensure the fulfilment of the criteria.
With both Vallejo and Odriozola seemingly frozen out of Ancelotti’s plans, their departures from Santiago Bernabeu appear inevitable. Thus, the management could be forced to renew one of Asensio or Ceballos come June.
