Brahim Díaz, emerging superstar at Real Madrid, moved to Man City aged 14, against the rules. How?
A trade in underage footballers remains a problem in the modern game. Today we take a look at one high-profile case, engineered by a club in the dock for 115 alleged breaches of Premier League rules
Brahim Díaz, 24, is an emerging superstar at Real Madrid, but he was just 14 when Manchester City put together an illicit deal in 2013 to move him from Spain to England, contrary to FIFA rules designed to protect minors.
City secretly arranged a six-figure pay-off for his development club, Malaga, via a third party agency, as Malaga and the child agreed to mutually terminate his formal registration at that club at the same time.
This meant the young attacking midfielder would be able to move to Manchester without an attachment to any other club, hence not have to transfer his registration, or flag up the move. He would attend City’s academy and only formally register with City once he turned 16.
The orchestrated nature of the move and the shady manoeuvrings that facilitated it, plus the extent to which senior City figures knew they risked getting caught are illustrated in documents and emails that will follow below. There’s also a video of a Q&A I was asked to give by the Arsenal Supporters Trust around the charges facing City.