It’s Spanish Supercup week, which sees the Atlético Madrid squad head to Saudi Arabia to take on Real Madrid on Thursday, before a potential Sunday final.
Included in that squad are a number of players
rumoured to be on their way out of the club in this January transfer window.
With all the details of those reports, plus the rest of the news regarding incomings, here is Into the Calderón bringing you another transfer roundup.
Sørloth surprise swap?
We already know that the Atleti board would be willing to let Alexander Sørloth leave if an eye-catching offer were to land on their desk, but recent reports suggested that a European heavyweight are proposing a swap deal with one of their strikers.
Life at Juventus hasn’t exactly gone to plan for long-term Atlético target Jonathan David. The Canadian signed for the Old Lady in the summer of 2025, but has only managed to register three goals in 24 appearances across all competitions. A missed penalty in a 1-1 draw at home to US Lecce at the weekend hasn’t exactly helped matters, and many journalists believe his time in Turin is up already.
With a World Cup on home soil ever approaching, David will be wanting to return to the kind of form that attracted Juve to him in the first place. Whilst in France with LOSC Lille, the forward bagged 25+ goals in each of the three seasons before leaving for Italy.
Juventus are now “insisting” for Sørloth and are planning to use David as a swap deal to kill two birds with one stone. That is at least according to Marca, who suggest the operation is still very much “in diapers.” Italian paper La Gazzetta dello Sport are reporting the same thing.
Sørloth would have to weigh up his options — he’d be moving to a huge, historic name within European football, but one that is far from being guaranteed Champions League qualification, and a club that has seen strikers’ careers stalling in recent years. As for David, it would be a chance to finally play for the club who were seemingly too tight to part with Lille’s asking price for so many years, but who won’t give him the chances he’d expect should his form not improve.
Additionally to Juventus, Al Hilal are also reported to be monitoring Sørloth this transfer window.
Raspadori holding firm
As well as Sørloth, fellow striker Giacomo Raspadori is also on the flight to Saudi Arabia to compete in the Supercup. This comes after revelations that “Jack” wants to stay at Atlético Madrid, despite heavy interest from AS Roma.
Spanish sports newspaper Diario AS revealed that although his number of minutes played aren’t close to where he’d like them to be, he’s very happy in Madrid and is willing to fight for his spot in the team.
Italian journalist Matteo Moretto believes that Roma will continue on the offensive, as Atleti are happy to see out Raspadori’s departure if they can recover the €22 million spent on him in the summer. Roma were supposedly expecting a final decision from the forward on Monday, but nothing has materialised, leaving everyone in limbo.
Raspadori’s minutes against Real Sociedad on Sunday won’t do much in convincing him to stay, as once again he was asked to play in a left-midfield role that is far from the center of the penalty box, where he’d like to be playing his football.
Martín completes Rayo loan
Atleti youth product Carlos Martín has made his loan move to Rayo Vallecano official this week.
The forward/winger will head to the neighbourhood of Vallecas until the end of the season, it being the third loan of his Atlético career.
A part of the club’s academy since 6 years of age and a lifelong rojiblanco, Martín was made part of the first team squad in the summer, but has yet to feature at all in the league. The task of uprooting Giuliano Simeone in his position has stood in the way of the Spaniard getting onto the pitch, and now he leaves in search of match time.
He is expected to make his debut for Rayo on Tuesday night in their Copa del Rey clash with Granada CF. They’ll need as many players fit as possible as they look to go deep in the UEFA Conference League, as well as the cup. Hopefully Carlos can acquire some valuable minutes and have his first taste of senior continental football.
Other rumours
- It has all gone quiet on the left-back front, with no further reports on Vitinho or Alejandro Grimaldo. Cholo Simeone seems ever more frustrated with Matteo Ruggeri, and Javi Galán is long gone. It’s key priority for Mateu Alemany to sort this month.
- Crystal Palace center-back Marc Guéhi is one of the most sought-after players in world football currently, and Atleti have thrown their hat in the ring to sign him. It’s very unlikely to happen, given that Premier League bullies Manchester City and Liverpool are also circling the deal. Marcos Senesi of AFC Bournemouth is still another defensive target, but he is also being monitored by the vultures of English football.
- There is loose chat around Tottenham Hotspur now “leading the race” to sign Conor Gallagher, according to Give Me Sport. They’ll have to satisfy Atleti’s financial demands to recoup the €35 million paid for the Englishman, and get in there ahead of Manchester United who are also interested. I’m guessing neither team’s scouts saw his howling miss at the weekend.
