- FIFA reject Laporte’s Athletic Club transfer
- Al-Nassr fail to file paperwork in time
- Defender left stuck despite Bilbao interest
The Spanish international Laporte’s dream return to the Athletic Club has collapsed at the final hurdle after FIFA rejected the deal due to late paperwork from Al-Nassr. The 31-year-old centre-back, who had already agreed terms with Athletic and was set to rejoin the club for €10m, cannot be registered because the Saudi Arabian federation failed to send the necessary documents on time, according to Cope and Marca. Athletic had submitted their side of the paperwork to La Liga before the deadline, but without the international transfer approval, the deal was blocked. FIFA has decided that Laporte cannot be registered until the winter transfer window, leaving Los Leones without their long-awaited defensive reinforcement.
For Athletic, the failure is a major setback as they had identified Laporte as the cornerstone of their Champions League campaign and as a symbolic homecoming for one of their own academy products. For Laporte, it represents yet another frustrating chapter after his stalled career at Al-Nassr. Laporte had spent the summer pushing for a Bilbao return, rejecting several offers from other clubs and agreeing to a three-year contract at San Mames. Athletic even put forward a €10m signing-on package to settle his exit from Al-Nassr, but the Saudi side refused his request to terminate his contract and allow him to leave for free.
A move looked imminent just before the transfer window came to a close, only for the document mix-up to change the situation. Now, FIFA’s refusal to grant an exception means he will not feature for Athletic until January at the earliest. The Basque club are reportedly now considering taking legal action via the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), although overturning such rulings is notoriously difficult.
This case draws parallels with the infamous collapse of David de Gea’s transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2015, when paperwork failed to arrive before the deadline. As in that case, the player finds himself in limbo, committed to a move that technically doesn’t exist.
Athletic must now weigh up whether to pursue a CAS appeal or accept FIFA’s decision and wait until January. For coach Ernesto Valverde, this is a major tactical blow ahead of their Champions League campaign, as Laporte’s leadership and experience were central to the club’s planning.
