Atletico Madrid compete with Premier League clubs for La Liga superstar

Atletico Madrid won’t be as big spending as 2024, but this summer’s transfer window still promises to be hectic for Diego Simeone’s squad. The idea is for several departures to take place, and in their place could be very interesting signings.

The big talking point as to Atleti’s summer transfer window will centre around Antoine Griezmann. The club’s all-time leading goalscorer has scheduled crunch talks for later this month, and that time, it will be determined whether he leaves the club – but at this stage, it does look more likely than not that he will move on.

If Atleti lose Griezmann, they will have lost their most creative spark – and that will need to be addressed. And they plan to do just that by signing Alex Baena, who has been one of the standout performers in La Liga since the start of last season.

Baena has been a creative force for Villarreal over the last 18 months. He typically occupies the left midfield position in Marcelino Garcia Toral’s 4-4-2 system, and if he were to move to Atleti, he would be perfect for a similar role in the same formation that Simeone operates.

According to Diario AS, Atleti are becoming more and more convinced that they need to sign Baena this summer. He has a €60m release clause, although Villarreal are reportedly willing to accept an offer in the region of €50m, which is an amount that several Premier League clubs would also be very happy to pay.

Atleti could find it very tough to convince Baena to make the move to the Metropolitano this summer given the fact that clubs in the Premier League will offer more money to him and to Villarreal. Nevertheless, they look ready to make a concrete attempt to secure another piece of Simeone’s puzzle.