Barcelona are reportedly considering a lawsuit against Santos over their rights with respect to Brazilian superstar Gabigol.
Brazilian media outlet Globo Esporte have claimed that Barcelona are considering taking action against Santos over an alleged breach of their first-refusal option on Gabigol. The report has added that while Santos have maintained their stance that they had communicated Inter Milan’s offer to Barcelona and had confirmed the transfer after receiving the green signal from the Blaugranes’ hierarchy, the Spanish giants are stating otherwise.
A first refusal gives the club, who has such an option vested with them, the power to match any incoming bids that were accepted by the selling club regarding the player/s they have such an option on. As you can guess by the name ‘option’, the club given the right can choose not to exercise the option and even the activation of such option does not guarantee the transfer of the player.
All the accepted offers along with the matched bid are then forwarded to the player and his agent who then open talks with the clubs to reach a personal agreement. All the clubs are equally likely to secure the services of the player.
Barcelona received a first-refusal on Gabigol while achieving the transfer of Neymar from Santos in 2013. Gabigol signed for Inter Milan this summer in a deal worth close to €30m and Barcelona do not seem too happy about the way the transfer took shape.
Globo Esporte state that Santos claim they informed Barcelona of Inter Milan’s offer last month and sanctioned the move after receiving the go-ahead signal from the club.
But Barcelona are claiming that the document sent over by the Brazilian club was not detailed well enough as to the offer received and that the Blaugranes’ had not communicated their consent over the deal.
The defending Liga BBVA champions are now seeking for a compensation as they feel they are entitled to be at the receiving end of some remuneration for Santos’ failure to respect the rights of the club regarding the first-refusal option.
FIFA is likely to be the governing body Barcelona are going to turn to and would hope for a decision in their favour as the Blaugranes’ look to get compensated for the non-performance on Santos’ part in respect of the club’s first-refusal right on Gabigol.
