"You already have an Evolution version of this player"

Hello!

I recently upgraded Santi Cazorla in the "Detail Oriented" evolution, bringing him from 77 to 81. Now, he's the perfect fit for the "Budding Starlet" evolution, which would bring him from 77 to 85, a much better upgrade. I'd like to have the best version of Santi as possible, because he's one of my favorite players, but when I try to start "Budding Starlet" with a brand new, gold Santi Cazorla, I get the message "You already have an Evolution version of this player." Is this intentional or a bug? I'd rather not discard my 81 Santi Cazorla in case it fits in a future evolution but also don't want to miss the opportunity to have an 85 Santi Cazorla. I feel like this is a pointless limitation in the game, is there any way to fix this?