Mertens, Ibrahimovic and more: contract and loan rules necessary to avoid Serie A chaos

30 apr 2020

The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic is having a significant effect on the world of football and soon, with regards to the contracts of the players as well as the loan deals, there could potentially be a major legal problem. Unless of course, an effective and intelligent solution is found to deal with the issue, as pointed out by Gazzetta dello Sport (via milannews.it).

There are many questions to be answered. From July 1, for example, who will employ the players with expiring contracts? And who will pay those on loan until the end of June?

One prime example is Dries Mertens. The Belgian has not yet renewed his contract with Napoli and from June 30 onwards he is theoretically free to play with whoever he thinks best. Obviously, it is a borderline case, but not far-fetched.

The case of Zlatan Ibrahimovic at AC Milan is the same, while attention must also be kept on Roma's Smalling and Mkhitaryan, both on loan at the club and both destined to return to the Premier League in late June unless confirmed by the Giallorossi. And also Kulusevski: will he still wear the Parma shirt in July or will he already be at Juventus?

For now, there is a lot of confusion in the contractual sphere and it remains to be seen whether there will be a change in the coming weeks. Some legal sources indicate that the postponement of contract expiration by a month (or a little more) can be legitimized by a simple federal measure.