Atlético de Madrid are on the verge of signing a new midfielder, more than two weeks after Conor Gallagher left the club and less than 24 hours after they suffered one of the most embarrassing defeats of the Diego Simeone era.
Atlético’s big move to shore up the midfield and inject quality into that line is reportedly to sign Leon Goretzka, the 67-time Germany international who is on the outs at Bayern Munich. Atleti’s interest in Goretzka is not new, nor is it surprising; the six-time Bundesliga
champion turns 31 next week and is a free agent in June.
Rather than wait a few months to sign him, Mateu Alemany and Miguel Ángel Gil have sped up the process and reportedly submitted an official offer to sign Goretzka now. Atleti have offered between €2 and 3 million to Bayern, and they are willing to pay the player’s €8.5 million salary for the remainder of the season.
If the deal is completed before the window shuts, Goretzka would sign a two-and-a-half year contract to 2028. Bayern boss Vincent Kompany already seems resigned to Goretzka’s departure.
It is a classic Atleti move to opt for the older and less-expensive Goretzka over someone like Éderson, the €50 million-rated Atalanta midfielder in the prime of his career who has wanted to join for two years. But these are the kinds of decisions that you expect Miguel Ángel Gil’s board to make. The day cannot come soon enough when he is no longer in charge of the sporting sector. It long has not mattered who the sporting director is — though Alemany isn’t covering himself in glory here, days after saying “I’d rather sign nobody than sign filler.”
But let’s get to the point: is Goretzka going to help, assuming he joins? Yeah, probably, even though it is far from the best signing that the club could make after they brought in roughly €77 million from transfers this month via the sales of Gallagher, Giacomo Raspadori and Rodrigo De Paul.
It’s true that Goretzka is better than having no one, and Simeone is reluctant to use an unproven Atlético Madrileño or Atleti C player in big matches. While Goretzka is exiting his prime, his profile would add more creativity and playmaking next to Pablo Barrios, which the Atleti midfield has been missing all season. Though he has scored just one goal this season, Goretzka historically has a strong presence in the opponent’s penalty area; he grabbed at least three goals in each of his previous seven seasons in Munich.
Knowing Atleti and knowing the agent game, acquiring Goretzka cheaply could put the club in position to make an additional, more expensive attacking signing before Feb. 2. As it happens, Goretzka shares the same agency as Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman, who was linked strongly to Atleti last summer and is coming off a strong Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria.
