The signing of Franco Mastantuono by Real Madrid could unleash a tremendous controversy in LaLiga. Beyond the high price of the operation (63 million euros, including the CPI), the decision to incorporate him into the 'merengue' squad with a reserve team registration could cost the 'Casa Blanca' dearly.
According to the president of the National Center for Coach Training (CENAFE), Miguel Galán, Real Madrid could incur in improper alignment against Osasuna if Xabi Alonso decides to count on the Argentine player in the first matchday of LaLiga 25/26.
The reason is simply regulatory, due to the federative license with which Madrid has registered Mastantuono. The club, thinking of keeping a quota free in the first team in the event of signing another player in the final stretch of the summer market, assigned the 18-year-old player a Castilla registration.
Could Real Madrid incur in improper alignment with Franco Mastantuono?
According to Galán, the General Regulations of the RFEF establish that "Any player may be aligned by the team in which he is registered and for which he obtained a federative license (In this case, Real Madrid CF "B") provided that it is in force".
That is, if Mastantuono plays with the first team of Madrid while being active with Castilla there would be no problem. However, if the 'merengues' intend to use the Argentine in LaLiga without him having debuted with the reserve team and the club openly admits that the player will not be in the plans of Castilla, it may constitute a violation of the regulations.
In that sense, Madrid could be accused of "fraud of law, malice or bad faith, in particular in order to evade compliance with a specific requirement demanded by the General Regulations to obtain registration and federative license for competitions of national scope" in case of counting on Mastantuono for the league debut against Osasuna, explains Galán.
Mastantuono could only debut with Castilla at the end of August
The conflict of interest would be resolved once the Argentine plays with Castilla. However, the white reserve team will only debut on August 29 (against CD Lugo) in the Primera RFEF, so any appearance of Franco with the first 'merengue' team before that date would keep the risk of improper alignment latent.
In case of corroborating the infraction, Real Madrid would lose by 3-0 any match where the improper alignment of Mastantuono or any other of its players is verified. The other solution to the mess would be to register the one from Azul in the absolute squad.
For this, by regulation, he would have to assign him another number, since the players of the first team, obligatorily, must use any number between '1' and '25'. Only the youth players of the reserve team and/or the youth academy can choose numbers from '26' onwards.
Mastantuono stated in his presentation last Thursday that he had chosen '30' out of affection for the club where he trained and played until last month. "It is a very special number for me. It is the one I used at River and I was still hoping to continue wearing it. Luckily, that's how it happened", explained the 18-year-old player.
Barça has already covered its back with Roony Bardghji
A similar scenario could be faced by FC Barcelona in case of including Roony Bardghji in the squad for the match against Mallorca. Although, by age (19), the Swede can be part of the Barça Atlètic squad, the club is clear that the striker will not play this season with the reserve team.
And, if he does, he could only debut with Juliano Belletti's team in September, when he starts his journey in the Segunda RFEF. For this reason, the azulgrana board will make an effort this week to resolve Bardghji's registration in the first team.
At the moment, the club has 20 players registered and 5 free places. Wojciech Szczesny and Gerard Martín are also waiting for their license, the first after renewing until 2027 and the second for not being able to continue being part of the reserve team, due to his age (23).