Atletico Madrid negotiations with striker cooling as focus shifts to defence

Girona forward Artem Dovbyk is likely to be one of the most coveted on the market this summer after a season in which he won the Pichichi award, breaking the Real Madrid and Barcelona duopoly on the award. The Ukrainian striker has receently been the subject of an offer from Atletico Madrid, but Los Rojiblancos are cooling their interest.

They had initially started talks around the €25m mark, but that was dismissed by Girona, and while the Catalan side are willing to do business for around €30m, it appears Dovbyk’s agents will demand the full package of his release clause at €40m. Diario AS say that Atletico have drawn the line at €35m, and as a result talks have cooled.

Napoli are the other side credited with serious interest, but this is also occurring in the context of Atletico pursuing Robin Le Normand, who will likely cost them in excess of €30m, and a second defender to cover the likely exit of Stefan Savic in addition to Mario Hermoso. Feyenoord’s David Hancko and Aymeric Laporte have been suggested as options, while at the other end of the pitch, neither Alvaro Morata nor Samu Omorodion are on their way out yet.

Atletico Madrid are set to increase their capital by €70m in order to continue their rebuild this summer, but only perhaps the sale of Omorodion would attract a major fee as things stand. Los Rojiblancos are understandably reluctant to part with a striker that could well be a top class number nine for much of the next decade. Should Chelsea continue to raise their offer though, it will be increasingly difficult not to resolve their spending concerns in one fell swoop.