Despite FC Dallas issuing a statement on Monday saying that there is no deal to transfer Fabian Castillo to Turkish club Trabzonspor and that they expect him to return to Dallas for training, the Colombian winger appeared to still be in Turkey on Tuesday.
Trabzonspor released a statement on their official website on Tuesday that said that they have begun talks with Major League Soccer about acquiring Castillo, while photos continued to surface on social media of Castillo in Trabzon.
FC Dallas confirmed to MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday that Castillo, 24, was not at Dallas’ training session on Monday night. The club did not confirm his current whereabouts. FCD will train again at 8 pm ET on Tuesday.
Castillo’s convoluted transfer saga began ahead of FCD’s July 23 match at Colorado when, according to a Monday report from Sports Illustrated’s Brian Straus, Castillo traveled to Turkey without Dallas’ permission.
The 24-year Colombian winger popped up in various photos and videos in Turkey over the course of several days early last week, taking pictures with Trabzonspor fans, posing with club officials while wearing a team jersey and even signing a contract, despite the fact that Dallas had not agreed to a transfer.
According to Straus’ report, Dallas and Trabzonspor were in talks about a transfer last week, with a transfer fee of about $4 million eventually agreed upon. Dallas had some concerns about whether Trabzonspor could pay the fee, so the two parties struck a new deal: Trabzonspor would pay $2 million up front for Castillo and acquire him on loan until January. At that point, they would either pay the remaining $2 million or Castillo, who signed an extension with Dallas through the 2019 season earlier this year, would return to Texas.
Straus reported that additional concerns arose later on, however, forcing Dallas to revert to the original plan that would have Trabzonspor pay the entire $4 million sum up front. When that money didn’t come in by Dallas’ match against Vancouver on Sunday, FCD nixed the deal, with head coach Oscar Pareja announcing after his team’s win against the Whitecaps that he expected “to have Fabian back and into our training.”
The matter, of course, wasn’t settled there. As of Tuesday, Castillo still hasn’t reported to Dallas. His agent, Raul Ramirez, further muddled matters on Monday and Tuesday, when he tweeted that he was at MLS headquarters in New York City for meetings with league officials to try to resolve the transfer. A league spokesperson confirmed to MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday that the meetings occurred, but did not elaborate on what went on during the sit-downs.
The very latest the situation could be resolved is September 1, when Turkey’s summer transfer window closes. The MLS summer transfer window shuts on Wednesday, but that wouldn’t apply to this potential move, as players leaving the league are subject to the transfer window of the league they’re transferring to, not the one they’re leaving.
