Manchester City midfielder completes departure; transfer leaves domestic giants fuming

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Manchester City midfielder Anthony Caceres has completed a loan transfer away from the Etihad Stadium.

The 23-year-old was only signed by the Citizens last week, buying him from A-League side Central Coast Mariners for an undisclosed fee [as per BBC Sport].

However, the midfielder will be made to wait for his City debut, with the Sky Blues opting to immediately loan the player back to Australian side—and the Citizens’ sister club—Melbourne City for the remainder of the current A-League campaign [as per The Guardian].

Anthony Caceres

While the move for Caceres, who cannot seriously be a contender to improve Manuel Pellegrini’s side’s title chances, might have left some of the club’s fans perplexed, it has raised fury in Australia.

In signing Caceres, and loaning him immediately back to Melbourne, City have helped their affiliate club bypass domestic rules preventing Australian clubs from transferring players between them for a fee.

Indeed, Tony Pignata, the chief executive of Sydney FC—two-time domestic champions, who currently sit third in the table, only two points ahead of Melbourne—has taken to Twitter to slam the transfer dealings, and has called for the Australian Football Federation to take action.

“The loaning of Caceres to City is wrong,” Pignata began. “How can [the] @FFA allow this?

“There are no transfers between @ALeague clubs, yet it seems you can bypass [sic].

“Just one point to add. What City have done is totally within the rules. I just think that current @FFA rules need to be looked at.”

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