Are Real Madrid Foreseeing a Transfer Ban with Urgent Pursuits of Danilo, Gaya?

"The same as filling a nuclear shelter with water and biscuits," AS editor Alfredo Relano wrote in his column on Thursday.

Just 24 hours earlier, Real Madrid reached an agreement to sign Porto right-back Danilo for a fee of €31.5 million, per Marca. With the news of that deal still fresh, AS is now reporting that the capital club are speeding up their pursuit of Valencia left-back Jose Gaya.

The chase of both players isn't at all surprising. Here on Bleacher Report in February, acknowledging Real Madrid's tendencies under president Florentino Perez and the club's long links with the two full-backs, we cited both men as logical signings for Los Blancos in the upcoming summer window.

Of course, Real Madrid logic isn't the same as logic elsewhere. Conventional wisdom rarely applies. Time and time again, Perez has sought expensive names at the expense of continuity.

If that's going to continue—there are other aspects to this transfer, but more on those later—at least the targets are a pair of defenders who will bolster squad depth and internal competition rather than new faces who will force a change in shape or approach. 

Francisco Seco/Associated Press

Thus, it's not the simple matter of the chase or the identity of the emerging stars that is notable. Instead, it's the urgency with which it's all transpiring.

More than €30 million—Marca noted that Danilo is now the most expensive defender in the club's history—is a significant outlay for a player who had rejected a contract extension at Porto and whose contract was set to expire in 2016.

"A high price for a player who will be free next season," Relano summarised. 

Add Gaya to that, whose buyout clause stands at a reported €18 million, and Real Madrid look to be racing—and racing is the key point here—toward a splurge of almost €50 million for two players who won't be guaranteed places in the starting XI. 

"An explanation could be that Madrid fear a sudden ban on signings and they are foreseeing what is ahead," wrote Relano. 

In January, AS (h/t the Guardian) reported that the European champions were being investigated for deals involving underage players: 

"

According to reports in Spain by AS, the investigation is centred on the signing of two 12-year-olds, Manuel Godoy and Fernando Macias, brought from Venezuela in 2012 via Miguel Angel Coira, a former Argentinean footballer who lives in Spain and has a football school for young players in Madrid.

...

Fifa are investigating whether or not Real have complied with their regulations regarding the transfer of those under the age of 18. The rule states players can be signed from outside the European Union only if their parents have been forced to move to the country where the club is for non-football reasons, unless the club has made them available for transfer.

"

Essentially, it's the same reason why Real's great rivals Barcelona are currently serving a transfer ban. 

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

At this stage, it remains unclear what the verdict of FIFA's investigation will be. But as Relano intimated (and it's worthwhile noting that AS is a pro-Madrid outlet), Real's push to add emerging talent in a hurry could be interpreted as the club preparing for a transfer ban that may or may not come.

In recent months, Lucas Silva has arrived from Cruzeiro, Martin Odegaard was signed from Stromsgodset, Marco Asensio has been acquired and River Plate goalkeeper Augusto Batalla will arrive on an initial one-year loan deal at the end of the current campaign. 

It's a significant influx of young talent—at 22, Silva is the oldest of the bunch. It's also unfolded rapidly, and it's hard to argue that all of the business has been necessary.

In Silva's position, for instance, Los Blancos are already using Toni Kroos, have Asier Illarramendi sitting in reserve and have Casemiro out on loan at Porto. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the idea of a loan spell for Silva has already been floated, with the Brazilian himself telling Globo Esporte (h/t Goal) that "a loan move could be a good option."

Danilo can now be added to that list of new arrivals. Gaya might soon be too. 

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

On Thursday, Marca's Jose Felix Diaz addressed Danilo's signing and declared that it was part of the club's new strategic direction:

"

The pursuit of Danilo has been driven by the club. The 23-year-old prompted effusive descriptions in the scouting reports, but ultimately it was the board—headed by Florentino Perez—that considered the deal of strategic importance to the club's plans, which involve building a young team overflowing with future potential.

"

Diaz, contrary to Relano's suggestion in AS, wrote that the urgency of the deal was due to "Porto's financial problems and a fear of the move getting hijacked"—the right-back was also wanted by Barcelona, according to Catalonia-based daily, Sport.

A plan of building with youth has certainly been evident. At present, Real Madrid's squad has an average age of 26.2, per Rob Train of ESPN FC, and the majority of the club's recent deals have been for players still inside the first half of their careers.

When they were signed, Kroos and Gareth Bale were 24. James Rodriguez and Illarramendi were 23. Isco and Casemiro were 21 when they made the switch to the Bernabeu. 

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

However, those aforementioned players were brought to the Spanish capital across a period spanning two summer transfer windows. The strategy had been evident, yes, but it had a degree of patience.

What prompted Relano to remark that "an explanation could be that Madrid fear a sudden ban on signings and they are foreseeing what is ahead" is the recent quick succession of new faces. Since the club was notified of FIFA's investigation on December 14, as noted by the Guardian, they have signed four players in three months (the agreement for Asensio was struck in November), adding to a squad already rich in talent. 

The proposed addition Gaya could soon take that number to five. 

Clearly, a drive for emerging talent is being undertaken at the Bernabeu. Only time will tell if, as Relano pondered, the strategy is being fast-tracked to prepare for a transfer ban.