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A Spanish report has revealed a striking twist in the transfer of Ivorian winger Yan Diomande, the RB Leipzig player, to Real Madrid, claiming that a phone call from Brazilian star Vinicius Junior was one of the factors that dragged the young player into a complex web of disputes between his representation agencies.
According to a lengthy report by the newspaper Marca, Diomande took a call from Vinicius Junior some time ago urging him to join the "Roc Nation" business agency. The company's senior owners then welcomed him in the United States, and he committed to the firm that has since become his agency.
Signing with Roc Nation opened the door to a complex legal crisis. Diomande's former agency, "Maxidel Management", filed a lawsuit against his current representatives over his representation rights and the commission on his transfer from Leipzig.
That dispute has now reached FIFA, delaying the completion of Diomande's move to Real Madrid, especially as "Maxidel" insists it holds the player's rights right up until his departure from the German club.
The crisis leaves Real Madrid facing difficult choices. The club may be forced to negotiate separately with "Maxidel", to wait for an agreement between the two agencies, or to sit tight until FIFA rules and allow the player to be registered temporarily while the legal dispute plays out.
Other disputes over Diomande's rights are piling on the complications. His former agent Diez Bamba is locked in a row with the company "Blue Crow", which played a pivotal role in the player's career and his move to Leganes.
Adding to the mess, the company "Rainbow" is claiming the rights to exploit the player's image and is fighting legal battles with both "Maxidel" and "Roc Nation". Diomande's contractual and commercial rights are surrounded by a web of mutual lawsuits.
The roots of the crisis reach back to the early years of the player's career. He emerged in Ivory Coast, then moved to the "Blue Crow" academy in Dubai, and from there to the "DME" academy in the United States, where several major European clubs began to track him.
Various parties tried to influence the player's future during that period, before "Blue Crow" stepped in and pushed for his move to Leganes, which it owned. That was where he began his rise in Spanish football.
After his appearance with Leganes' first team in the Spanish league against Real Madrid, Diomande's talent exploded and drew the interest of 41 clubs. He then moved to Leipzig for 20 million euros, with "Blue Crow" retaining a percentage of any future transfer.
In Germany, Diomande became one of the most prominent rising talents and won the award for best young player in the German league. From there, the disputes escalated over who owns his representation rights.
Max Gradel, the owner of "Maxidel", announced that the player had renewed his ties with the agency. Diez Bamba denied it, before "Roc Nation" entered the scene and landed the player's signature.
Real Madrid now find themselves at the heart of this legal battle, all while negotiations with Leipzig continue over the financial value of the deal. The German club is demanding more than 100 million euros to complete it.
Los Blancos need to settle every file tied to Diomande's rights. The club usually secures a large percentage of the rights to exploit its players' images, so any existing dispute over image or representation rights matters enormously to the management.
"Marca" points out that the disputes between the agencies may prove more complex than the matter of registering the player himself. FIFA does not have the authority to rule on disputes over agents' commissions, and it is expected that it will not block Diomande's registration with Real Madrid once the Spanish club and Leipzig reach a final agreement.
For now, Diomande remains sidelined from Leipzig's pre-season, waiting to learn his fate. Real Madrid, meanwhile, are trying to conclude a deal that has morphed, surprisingly, from negotiations with a German club into a tangled legal conflict between several agencies, one chapter of which was that unexpected call from Vinicius Junior to the Ivorian talent.