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21st August 2024
03:14pm BST
Conor Gallagher finally signed for Atlético Madrid today after a long transfer saga between the Spanish team and his former club Chelsea.
The 24-year-old has signed a five-year deal reported to be worth €42 million and - thanks to his Irish ancestry - will avoid falling victim to a stringent and complicated La Liga regulation.
In La Liga, teams are only allowed to have a total of five non-EU players in their squad and just three on a match day.
However, if a non-EU player can satisfy the citizenship criteria of an EU country - whether that is through ancestry, residency or naturalisation - they can then be excluded from taking up one of the coveted non-EU places in their club's squad.
That was the case for Gallagher's fellow English international Jude Bellingham last summer when he moved from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid for a fee of €103 million.
The La Liga Player of the Season took advantage of having an Irish passport in order to establish his EU citizenship.
🚨🏴🇮🇪 Conor Gallagher does NOT take a non-EU spot in the Atlético Madrid squad. He has an Irish passport. pic.twitter.com/BSAGQlQqqI
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) August 21, 2024
Bellingham applied for an Irish passport and was granted one because he has an Irish-born grandparent.
Both Bellingham and Gallagher join a long list of English footballers who could have played for The Boys In Green due to their Irish ancestry.
Another of Atletico's summer signings - Julian Alvarez - will also avoid taking a non-EU spot thanks to his Italian passport.
Considering two non-EU places are already filled at the Estadio Metropolitano, both Alvarez and Gallagher's dual nationality will help the club's bosses avoid a bureaucratic headache going into the new season.
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