Tribal Football

Atletico Madrid star 'offered to Aston Villa' to fund Grimaldo deal

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone.
Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone.Profimedia

Atletico Madrid have been busy so far in the summer transfer window with €92M spent on new players by Diego Simeone.

Kang-in Lee, Morten Hjulmand and Alejandro Grimaldo have all been secured ahead of the 2026/27 LaLiga season and the club are yet to discover Julian Alvarez's intentions.

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Alvarez indicated his desire to leave Madrid during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but despite growing exit links to Barcelona, the defending Spanish champions are not in a position to afford a deal at this stage.

Simeone has also been asked to pause incomings, to allow for sales to fund future buys, and cover the €20M paid to Bayer Leverkusen for Grimaldo.

Reports from Marca indicate Matteo Ruggeri will be the next player offloaded with Aston Villa offered the chance to sign the Italian defender.

Ruggeri cost €17M from Atalanta last summer, and Atletico could land a €20M fee, if he accepts a Premier League move with Grimaldo on course to be Simeone's first-choice left-back in the months ahead.

Los Rojiblancos are yet to receive any revenue from departing players so far this summer with Antoine Griezmann joining Orlando City for free and Clement Lenglet loaned to Benfica.

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