Atletico Madrid interested in signing Premier League defender - Reports

La Liga giants Atletico Madrid have enquired about Leicester City defender Caglar Soyuncu, a report from Spanish outlet AS has claimed.

Atletico Madrid have not been at their best this season. Picking up 24 points from 14 La Liga fixtures, Diego Simeone’s men find themselves in fifth place in the league standings. They also finished fourth in their Champions League group, which ended their European aspirations for the 2022-23 season.

It has been claimed that Atletico is looking to bolster its squad and are currently scouring the market for a center-back. They have seemingly zeroed in on Leicester’s Turkish defender Soyuncu, and the player’s camp is reportedly claiming that the deal is close to being done.

Soyuncu, who will be out of contract in June 2023, has played only two matches for the Foxes this season, once in the Premier League and once in the EFL Cup. A move to Spain could offer him the chance to play more regularly again.

It has been claimed that Atletico Madrid will initially try to sign the Turkish defender for a low price in January itself. However, if Leicester asks for a sizable sum, they could wait until June to get their man for free.

It is believed that Atletico’s sporting director Andrea Berta may have gotten in touch with Soyuncu’s former agent Mustafa Bogru to get a closer insight into the player’s psyche. The 2021 La Liga champions reportedly tried to sign Soyuncu when he was at Freiburg in 2018 but were discouraged by his €20 million price tag.

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Diego Forlan believes Joao Felix could improve if he leaves Atletico Madrid

Los Colchoneros signed Joao Felix for a record €127 million from Benfica in 2019. The Portuguese superstar has impressed in bits and pieces but has not managed to live up to his astronomical price tag.

Felix, who has not started a game for Atletico Madrid since September, has thus far featured in 129 games for Simeone’s men across competitions, recording 33 goals and 18 assists.

Amid concerns that the 23-year-old’s development has hit a snag in the Spanish capital, former Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan has backed a change of scenery for the Portuguese. In an interview, the Uruguayan said (via Fichjes.net):

“João Félix is a very good player, he is young and has a lot of quality. They paid a lot of money for him and he hasn’t been playing as expected, but he’s still very young."

He added:

“News is coming out that talks about the possibility of him leaving Atletico and, if he leaves, he could even increase his performance. I believe in that. It happens many times, it happened, for example, with Philippe Coutinho, who played a few times for Inter and when he went to Liverpool he improved a lot.”

Felix has started both of Portugal’s games at the 2022 FIFA World Cup so far, pitching in with a goal.