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There are claims in Spain that Atletico Madrid are attempting to hijack Swansea City's shock move for Las Palmas playmaker Roque Mesa – despite being under a transfer ban.

Champions League outfit Atleti were banned from transfers in two winders for breaching Fifa rules over the signing of junior players.

An appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport last month failed to see that overturned, meaning they cannot register players until January 2018.

But that hasn't stopped them being reportedly keen on gazumping Swansea's £11m move for 28-year-old pass specialist Mesa.

The Madrid-based AS newspaper have stated that Diego Simeone – a known admirer of the player – is keen on Mesa with Atletico will to go to £13m to better the Swansea fee that has already been agreed with Las Palmas.

And it is said they would get around the ban by loaning him back to Las Palmas until the winter window.

However, there are strong suggestions they would not be allowed to pull off such a move and may have to 'park' the player for six months – as Barcelona did when they signed Arda Turan in 2015 when under a similar ban.

With Mesa having made his intentions of playing his way into international recognition clear, it would remain to be seen whether he would be willing to agree to any such deal – with Swansea waiting and ready to offer him bumper wages on top of the attraction of the Premier League stage..

Swansea could also up their own bid if needed, though will be wary of any attempts of an auction ahead of these new Atletico links.

Still, there was a confidence from last updates from Gran Canaria that Swansea were down to the fine details of the deal that would see Mesa arrive at the Liberty on a four-year deal.

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Reports in the Canary Islands had been convinced that the deal with Swansea will be confirmed once “minor” agreements over instalments, sell-on clauses and bonuses for the midfielder earning a Spain cap are made.

Previous statements from club president Miguel Angel Ramirez – who is holding the discussions with Swansea – have suggested he would be keener to deal with overseas clubs than to sell to another La Liga club.

Meanwhile, Newcastle striker Ayoze Perez has encouraged his fellow Canary Islander to make the move to the Premier League, saying: "I individually recommend it totally. Surely he will like it and a player like him can show off in this league. We'll see if we have another canary there.”