Leicester miss deadline to register Adrien Silva by 14 seconds as FIFA rule he can't play until January

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Craig Shakespeare’s hopes of playing Adrien Silva against Chelsea on Saturday are over.

FIFA have rejected Leicester’s application for clearance in his £22million move from Sporting Lisbon due to documents arriving beyond the deadline.

Leicester are continuing to work with FIFA, Sporting, and the FA in an effort to get the transfer ratified in the coming days. If that fails, Silva would not feature for Leicester until January, if at all.

FIFA have rejected Leicester's attempts to register £22million midfielder Adrien Silva

The irony of Chelsea being visitors to the King Power Stadium is that Danny Drinkwater is very much available, but it was the former Leicester player’s transfer to Stamford Bridge that was inextricably linked to the Silva deal. Here, Sportsmail examines that dynamic and why Leicester are in this position. 

Is this Leicester’s fault?

Clearly, Leicester would have liked to carry out the Silva transfer before the deadline day, but it was a complex affair.

The club knew for a number of weeks Drinkwater wished to explore the chance of playing for Chelsea but ideally wanted to keep hold of him. Only on deadline day did Chelsea begin to get serious, making an offer worth £30m that after further negotiations reached the £35m asking price by late afternoon.

At that point Leicester acted on long-standing interest in Silva, but his arrival was always dependent on Drinkwater joining Antonio Conte’s side. Had Drinkwater stayed, Silva would not have been pursued. 

Into the mix too was Ross Barkley, and there is a suspicion Chelsea might not have signed Drinkwater had the Everton midfielder joined. In essence though, the dominoes were delayed by actions in London. Still, Leicester have known about Silva’s availability for a long time, why was that not done quicker?

The former Sporting Lisbon man was brought in as a late replacement for Danny Drinkwater

It is true Leicester have tracked Silva for 18 months and almost signed him last summer, so knew the terms of a transfer.

But dealing with Sporting can be difficult and the Portuguese club are known to squeeze extra value late on in proceedings.

As talks progressed Silva also had to fly to Leicester for a medical from training with Portugal, lengthening the process. Leicester officials were also sorting paperwork for deals involving Aleksandar Dragovic and Nempalys Mendy, so it was a busy few hours.

There was suspicion that Chelsea might not have signed Drinkwater if Ross Barkley had joined

England international Drinkwater completed his £35m move from Leicester on Deadline Day

How close were they then?

Leicester applied to the FA for a two-hour extension beyond the 11pm cut-off but digital documents on the transfer have to also be uploaded to FIFA’s database by midnight. In this case they were 14 seconds late.

What happens now?

FIFA have not accepted Silva’s Leicester registration so he is not a player for the club. He is in limbo, unable to train with Leicester and unwanted at Sporting, who would prefer cash in the bank. Leicester are ‘exploring all options to find a resolution’ but have not paid any money to Sporting and would not do unless the transfer is sanctioned.

FIFA are directing inquiries to the FA, who were involved in the exchange of paperwork and will assist Leicester by arguing a transfer could not be concluded in 14 seconds and must have been agreed beforehand. Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho has called for ‘common sense’ to prevail.

Ultimately, it may take leniency from FIFA, who will be wary of setting a precedent that sets aside rules.