Newcastle United are ‘leading the way’ for Atlético Madrid defender Mario Hermoso, who has been put up for sale by the Spanish side.
That’s according to Mundo Deportivo, who say the Magpies are one of several sides to have ‘knocked on his door’ about a transfer.
The newspaper reports that Atlético need to sell before they can buy in this window, and one of the players ‘on the market’ is Hermoso.
He finished the season as the fourth choice centre-back under Diego Simeone and ‘hardly featured at all’, and that is unlikely to change next season.
That has led Atlético to place him on their list of transferable players, and Hermoso has already attracted interest from Spain, Italy and England.
The interest from England is coming from Newcastle United, who have ‘knocked on his door’ and are ‘leading the way’ in terms of his suitors.
Atlético are looking for €25m for the defender, which is what they paid Espanyol to sign him, and that is presumably a figure that Newcastle, with their wealth, would have no issue paying.
Whether they are willing to do so isn’t mentioned, and they would have to work on convincing the player who wants to stay at Atlético.
He’s currently on holiday and plans to return for pre-season and fight for his place, regardless of the rumours about his future.
It will take Atlético making that ‘first step’ to get him out of the Wanda Metropolitano for him to leave, but if that happens, Newcastle will be among his options.
