Aston Villa are at risk of being sued by rivals West Brom over their potential signing of Barcelona's Louie Barry.
The 16-years-old is on the verge of a £3m transfer from the Catalan giants to Villa Park, but there could be legal issues over the deal.
He only signed for the Spanish champions over the summer from the Baggies, but the Mirror have reported that they are yet to receive any compensatory fee for the England Under-17 international.
West Brom tried to offer the youngster a new deal but he decided to walk out of the club in favour of a move to Barcelona. The Hawthorns club were upset over him rejecting contract after contract, but it has now been worsened as Barça look to make a profit on the Englishman by selling him to Aston Villa.
The Championship side are furious and are seeking legal advice with the distinct possibility that they might sue their fierce rivals over the move.
It comes part of a sequence of events that also saw West Brom's academy manager Mark Harrison move to Villa Park after Barry left for Spain.
Fantastic shithousary from Louie Barry using both West Brom and Barca to engineer a move to a big club.
— Gok Bob (@SirBob1892) January 7, 2020
“We have to make sure locally Aston Villa are the club everyone wants to come to," Harrison said in September in response to reports the pair could be reunited.
Source : 90min