Lucas Silva’s loan move to Sporting looked to be a mere formality on Saturday. However, the midfielder travelled to Lisbon to undergo a standard medical test and after four hours Sporting’s medical staff announced that Silva had not passed, citing a heart condition for the complications.

Both clubs had reached an agreement for a one-season loan deal with the option to buy, due to be triggered next summer. But the heart problem was detected in the second round of tests and the deal subsequently fell through.

Madrid signed Silva from Cruzeiro in 2014 for 14 million euros, yet the Brazilian failed to break through into the first team and only featured in nine games (424 minutes) for Los Blancos. Míchel was keen to bring the midfielder to Marseille and in the 2015-16 he was loaned out by Real Madrid. However, his performances failed to impress and he returned to Los Blancos before the deal with Sporting broke down.