Just four months after he joined Atlético de Madrid, Giacomo Raspadori may be heading back to Italy when the winter transfer window opens in a little more than two weeks.
Matteo Moretto on Sunday reported that Atlético are set to listen to offers for Raspadori with a view to loaning or selling the striker when the transfer window begins on Jan. 2. Per Moretto, Atleti “are not satisfied” with Raspadori’s adaptation to Spain and LaLiga; AS Roma are one of the teams interested in bringing Raspadori back
to Italy, as Gazzetta dello Sport previously had reported.
On Aug. 8, Atlético signed Raspadori from Italian champions Napoli in a €22 million transfer, after the club had been frustrated in attempts to sign Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman and Stuttgart attacker Enzo Millot. Raspadori signed a five-year contract, and it was envisioned that the Italy international would serve as something of an “insurance policy” if club legend Antoine Griezmann struggled to find form following a rough few months at the end of the 2024/25 season.
But Griezmann has performed better than anticipated this season, and he has been ahead of Raspadori in the pecking order since August. Despite flashing tactical versatility and impressive technical skill in his minutes, Raspadori has not won over Diego Simeone or the coaching staff. The Sassuolo academy product has made only one start in LaLiga and three starts overall; he has played 315 minutes for Atlético and scored his sole goal in a 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.
Griezmann’s position as a squad player is iron-clad, and Simeone has preferred Alexander Sørloth as a partner for franchise player Julián Alvarez instead of Raspadori. The 25-year-old’s other way into the lineup would be as a winger, but El Cholo has made Nico Gonzalez his starter on the left, and Giuliano Simeone is first-choice on the right.
In the first indication as to how the new sporting director could reshape the team, it appears Mateu Alemany will be more than willing to let Raspadori leave on loan — or on a permanent transfer, if Atlético can recover the fee paid for him. No disrespect whatsoever to the player, but this signing always felt weird and desperate; I get the sense that Simeone would have preferred another midfielder or the “dribbler” for whom he originally asked instead of the mercurial Raspadori.
