Julian Araujo‘s move from LA Galaxy to Barcelona has fallen through after FIFA confirmed on Friday that the documentation for the transfer was filed too late.
Barca and LA Galaxy agreed a fee potentially rising to €4 million for Araujo to move to the Spanish club on Tuesday, a source told ESPN. However, Barcelona director of football Mateu Alemany said that a “system error” caused the club to miss the midnight deadline at the end of the transfer window by just 18 seconds..
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A source at the Catalan club had said they would continue to fight for the deal to be concluded, citing “technical problems” which they can prove delayed the administration being completed.
However, a FIFA spokesperson confirmed that the deal would not be permitted.
“FIFA can confirm that the transfer of the player Julian Araujo from LA Galaxy to FC Barcelona was not completed in line with the applicable regulations,” they told ESPN.
Tuesday was the final of the January transfer window in the majority of European leagues and Barca can now not sign anyone else until the summer.
It was not the only transfer to miss the deadline, with Hakim Ziyech‘s switch to Paris Saint-Germain on loan from Chelsea also falling foul of the stated timeframe.
