Non-EU players set to phase out of Barca as Eto'o and Toure Yaya are exempted.


More non-EU spaces at Barca are set to become free, as Samuel Eto'o and Toure Yaya are two of eight Liga footballers to gain European Union (EU) player status, according to a new RFEF (Spanish FA ruling). In accordance with 'The Cotonou agreement' between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific States, workers from the latter grouping can potentially be recognised as communitarian, should they be working in the EU. As such, eight players, all of them African, will now no longer count towards their clubs' threshold of eight non-EU players in the first team squad. Barcelona are the main beneficiaries with two players, while six other Liga sides have just the one.


This ruling could potentially encourage the signing of more African stars in the wake of January's African Cup of Nations, and open the door to more signings from further afield to fill up the non-EU slots. The African players to immediately benefit from this new ruling include:


Diarra (Real Madrid) - Mali
Eto'o (Barcelona) - Cameroon

Touré (Barcelona) - Cote d'Ivoire
Kalu Uche (Almeria) - Nigeria

Ikechukwu Uche (Getafe) - Nigeria
Arouna Koné (Seville) - Cote d'Ivoire

Ettien (Levante) - Cameroon
Webó (Osasuna) - Cameroon