Atletico Madrid sign Sevilla's Vitolo despite registration ban

The FIFA administered ban has caused problems for Atletico in the transfer window as they missed out on the signing of Alexandre Lacazette to Arsenal.

However they have been able to work around the rules in order to bring in Vitolo.

Vitolo has bought out his contract in order to become a free agent. He has signed for Atletico until 2022 but will only register with them on January 1 2018 which is when the ban is lifted.

Until that point he will play for former side Las Palmas.

The wording of the Atletico statement is as follows: "Atletico Madrid has reached an agreement with Víctor Machín Pérez, Vitolo, for the next five years after the footballer rescinded his contract with Sevilla Fútbol Club.

"As a consequence of the FIFA sanction that prevents the club from registering footballers during the current summer market, the player will play the first half of the season at the Union Deportiva Las Palmas and will join our discipline from January 1, 2018."

The suggestion from Spain seems to be that Vitolo paid the €37.5 million required to buy-out his contract and Atletico will pay him back.

So he will sign for Las Palmas as a free agent on a six-month contract and then sign/register with Atletico in January.

The transfer is a different way to go about the registration ban with Barcelona previously signing Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal whilst under a registration ban and the two not being able to play in official matches until January.

Atletico are still being linked with a move for Chelsea striker Diego Costa but reports suggest he would follow a similar path to Turan and Vidal rather than Vitolo.