Atletico Madrid are on the verge of bringing in transfer guru Mateu Alemany to pair with their recently renewed manager Diego Simeone, but there is one key obstacle: their current Sporting Director.
Los Rojiblancos have been in talks with Alemany for several weeks, and Relevo say that he is already starting to put the feelers out with players and agents, but a deal is yet to be done. CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin and Alemany were recently seen eating together in Madrid, and all signs point to his signing.
🚨| Mateu Alemany is already inquiring about players for Atletico Madrid, although his signing is not finalized.
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— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) November 10, 2023
Yet the presence of Andrea Berta is complicating matters. The Italian intends on continuing in his role, and Gil Marin is reluctant to sack him. Neither has any intention of working with each other though, and Alemany has just had Deco usurp him at Barcelona, and does not want to share power with Berta.
The situation is unclear, and while Alemany looks as if he has the edge in the offices at the Metropolitano, if Berta does not step aside, or is not removed, he could well walk away from the deal altogether.
Berta has been present for many of Atletico’s finest years, arriving in 2017, but has not been immune to criticism either in recent years. It has also been mooted that he has at times recruited players that were not first-choice for Simeone. Meanwhile Alemany comes off strong performance at Barcelona, where in difficult conditions, he helped to build a title-winning side out of a team that looked a long way off doing so.
