Atletico Madrid have identified the fact that their defence has been their biggest issue this season, and with Mario Hermoso and potentially Stefan Savic looking as if they will exit, they intend to revamp the position. One of their targets is Real Sociedad and Spain centre-back Robin Le Normand.
Their interest in Le Normand has been reported previously, and Matteo Moretto has confirmed that this remains the case. The 27-year-old has been on a steady upwards trajectory for the past few seasons, and the Italian transfer insider has revealed two factors that could impact his future.
🇦🇷😕 Ángel Correa: “I was very close to leaving Atleti in the winter. I discussed it with the coach, everyone. I was going through a tough time, dealing with the loss of my mom, not getting the minutes I needed. I needed to play to not feel so sad, so down, and I wasn’t… pic.twitter.com/goD1qtWjaF
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) April 8, 2024
One of them is Javi Galan. La Real are happy with the on-loan left-back, and may try to retain him this summer – he could be part of discussions between the two clubs for Le Normand. The second major factor which could impact any deal is Real Sociedad’s league position. The Txuri-Urdin are currently 6th, and will qualify for the Europea League as things stand, but if La Real were to miss out on Europe, then it could force them to lower their high price tag for the defender.
La Real should be fine to qualify for Europe, although presumably even qualifying for the Conference League rather than the Europa League would impact their budgets. Currently they have a seven point advantage over Real Betis in 8th, but it is only a five-point gap to Valencia in seventh – if Athletic Club finish sixth or above, then seventh will get a Europa League spot.
