Levante UD is embroiled in an administrative battle to register their new signing, defender Sergio Akieme, after completing his contract just as the transfer window shut. The club filed the paperwork with La Liga after the deadline and is now preparing an appeal to FIFA to force through the registration, as reported by Marca on Wednesday. This issue arises with the granota side sitting ninth in the table, on 4 points from a start that reads one win, one draw, and one loss.
The transfer window is now closed and the Valencian club, which is five points behind leaders Barcelona, finds its squad reinforcement plans complicated. Sporting director Héctor Rodas explained the setback. "There are processes that do not depend on us." he stated. The club, with José Danvila as main shareholder and José Gila alongside Rodas in the sporting direction, is confident the case will be resolved in their favour.
Why was Akieme's registration delayed?
The contractual agreement with the player was completed within the window, but the final registration process with the league hit a bottleneck at the federation. The regulatory body's saturation in the final hours of the market prevented Levante from submitting the documents on time. Rodas pointed out this is not the first time something similar has happened in Spanish football and recalled that "LaLiga has been flexible in other cases and we are going to try to make it so in ours as well." The squad, which has scored and conceded 5 goals in three matchdays, hopes to have the defensive reinforcement available soon.
How does this affect Levante's transfer plans?
The granota club had hoped to have budget for one more signing this summer but ultimately could not make it happen. This leaves the manager with the current options, where players like Cabello, who can operate in two positions, and Toljan, who has even played with his weaker foot, gain increased importance. The budgetary situation and this unforeseen issue with Akieme bring a abrupt end to their window. Fans can check the full squad composition on our squad page.
What is the club's next step?
The sporting direction will not give up and will take the case to FIFA to demand the registration of the full-back. The club will fight and appeal through all necessary instances so Akieme can wear the granota shirt. While this administrative matter is resolved, the focus returns to the pitch. The next fixture is a trip to La Rosaleda to face bottom-placed Malaga on September 6th. All information on upcoming matches is available on our fixtures page.
What is the sporting context for this news?
Levante faces this bureaucratic problem after an irregular start to the season, with a sequence of results following a win, draw, loss (WDL) pattern. The team is in mid-table in the standings with a neutral goal difference. Akieme's addition aims to bring solidity to a defence that has shown some fragility. The resolution of this case will define whether the club can count on all its resources for the demanding match against Malaga.
