Atletico Madrid are not blessed with considerable depth in defence, but it looks as if they may be about to lose a defender before the end of the window.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Brazilian centre-back Felipe is on the verge of an exit, with two interested parties. Nottingham Forest were initially the side showing the most concrete interest, but now face competition from Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayer Leverkusen are now pushing to overtake Nottingham Forest in race to sign Felipe from Atlético Madrid — battle on between the two clubs 🚨🔴 #Atléti
Atlético Madrid will try to anticipate Soyüncü deal in case Felipe leaves — depending on salary FFP rules. pic.twitter.com/OWnLZqs5od
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 30, 2023
The idea from an Atletico Madrid point of view would be to bring in Leicester City defender Caglar Soyuncu, should Felipe exit. Atleti are said to have agreed a deal with the Turkish defender for the summer when he is out of contract.
If both switches could be pulled off, Los Colchoneros would likely be content with the moves. The 33-year-old Felipe has been both injury and error-prone of late. This season he has played just four times, accumulating 283 minutes of action. However Atleti only have three other natural central defenders in the team, in Mario Hermoso, Jose Maria Gimenez and Stefan Savic, each having their own fitness issues at times.
Image via Angel Martinez/Getty Images
