Confirmed: Gareth Bale will NOT occupy non-EU spot

The Spanish Football federation confirmed on Friday that British players will maintain their EU status. This means that both Gareth Bale of Real Madrid and Kieran Trippier of Atletico Madrid will not occupy one of the precious non-EU slots within their respective squads. There was concern that both players would not qualify for European status after the UK withdrew from the European Union (what has been dubbed as, “Brexit”) last January. This rule will only go into affect for players that were registered prior to Brexit, meaning any new British player transferred to La Liga would occupy a non-EU spot in the future.

Gareth Bale’s designation is a relief for Real Madrid, but there are still 4 players on the books with non-EU status and only 3 spots available. Vinicius JR, Rodrygo Goes, Eder Militao, and Takefusa Kubo are all classified as non-EU players. Reports from AS, suggest that Vinicius JR may receive his Spanish passport this coming September, freeing a spot for Take Kubo to potentially stay in Madrid.

Regardless of the potential open non-EU spot, Real Madrid still have too many first team players on their books. There are 26 first team players contracted, excluded the Castilla products who could be promoted like Antonio Blanco, Miguel Gutierrez, and Sergio Arribas. That means at least one more player would need to be sold or not registered ahead of the new season and no additional players could come in without further departures.