Conor Gallagher completed his move to Atletico Madrid this week, bringing to an end the long saga surrounding his exit from Chelsea.
The midfielder had been the subject of a protracted transfer tussle between the two clubs, with the deal looking as though it could be cancelled on a couple of occasions.
The two teams were dependant on a player coming in the opposite direction in order to get the transfer over the line, and while Samu Omorodion would opt against a switch to Stamford Bridge, Joao Felix stepped into the void and moved to the London side.
With Conor Gallagher's move to Atletico Madrid now complete, he has used his Irish links to help solve a headache for his new team.
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Conor Gallagher Uses Irish Passport To Exploit La Liga Rule Loophole
La Liga has relatively strict rules when it comes to squad registration, one of which relates to the amount of non-EU players a club can have part of its squad. Each club can have no more than five such players registered each season.
With England no longer part of the European Union, Gallagher could have occupied one of those spots.
However, as his name suggests, the English midfielder has strong Irish heritage. He qualifies for an Irish passport as a result, using this at his new club to ensure that he does not take up one of the five non-EU spots in the squad.
🚨🏴🇮🇪 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
This is a route that was used by Jude Bellingham last year, who also capitalised on his Irish heritage in order to avoid using one of Real Madrid's non-EU spots.
Conor Gallagher has been in touch with his Irish roots in recent times, attending the All-Ireland hurling final last month with his girlfriend, who hails from Cork.
It is a clever use of the rules from Atletico Madrid, allowing the club to recruit another player from outside Europe in the near future should they choose to do so.
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