According to Mundo Deportivo's report, Atletico Madrid is prepared to appeal for a last-minute signing for Sporting CP Danish midfielder Morten Hjulmand
Atletico Madrid have been working on signing a midfielder for weeks, specifically since Conor Gallagher left for Tottenham, at the beginning of the winter transfer window. But they have been doing it with the profile that Atletico's director of Men's Professional Football, Mateu Alemany, commented on several occasions "to improve what was already in the squad".
In this sense, the options were not so many. Of course, as the weeks went by and after seeing how possibilities such as Joao Gomes or Leon Goretzka were discarded, for various reasons; or the one in Ederson dos Santos got stuck; Atlético explored other avenues.
Some were very striking, but in which he also met with refusals. One of the most talked-about, if he had left, would have been to be able to sign an old acquaintance of the Atlético team, who has been on the agenda for a long time. We are referring to Gabri Veiga, former Celta de Vigo player, currently at FC Porto.
Atletico Madrid asked about the situation of the Spanish midfielder, thanks to the good relationship that the club has with 'Os Dragoe's', but the response of the Portuguese was negative. He was not in a position to get rid of the Galician, who this season is one of the key players of the team, in which he has 29 games, with four goals and eight assists. In addition, the Portuguese team paid 15 million euros for him to Al-Ahli, just a few months ago.
The other door that Atletico tried was that of Sporting de Portugal, here to try to sign Morten Hjulmand, one of the sensations in Portuguese football at the moment. The 26-year-old Dane happens to be one of the strongest pivots in his position, with a market valuation of 50 million euros.
The Dane wanted to embark on the Spanish adventure but Sporting closed the door on him, despite the commitment that existed. The international's agents informed the management, led by Frederico Varandas, that Atlético de Madrid were preparing to make a specific offer of close to 25 million euros, so they opted to remove him from the list of players called up by Rui Borges.
The coach of 'Os Leoes', assured that his non-call-up was his decision. "We chose to leave him out of the squad to protect him in some way. It's not a problem. He will play on Thursday against AVS and will be a starter. It was everyone's decision, based on personal reasons. It was our decision, given the personal issues. Tomorrow he will train and on Thursday he will play. He will be a starter, for sure. I hope nothing happens to him in training," he commented.