Athletic Bilbao announced that Spanish defender Aymeric Laporte will join them after FIFA changed its position on Thursday.
The Basque club had attempted to sign the defender from Saudi club Al-Nassr on September 1, but the deal did not complete before the transfer deadline.
Last week, FIFA rejected a request from the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to make an exception for Laporte’s transfer, but Athletic said their request has now been granted.
Spanish media reported that Al-Nassr failed to fill in the transfer details online in FIFA’s Transfer Matching System.
Athletic Bilbao said in a statement: “Athletic Bilbao wishes to announce that FIFA has authorized the Spanish Football Federation to obtain an International Transfer Certificate (ITC) from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.”
The statement added: “Once the International Transfer Certificate is issued, Aymeric Laporte can be registered with Athletic Bilbao.”
It’s worth noting that Laporte, 31, left Athletic Bilbao for Manchester City in 2018 before joining Al-Nassr in 2023.
