Atlético continues to move in search of a striker who complements Luis Suárez and forms an attack front to dream of everything. Simeone will start the season with the Uruguayan as the only striker and without having had minutes in the preseason, so it is expected that LaLiga will start from the bench in Balaídos. Suárez enjoyed one more week of vacation, since at 34 years old the great objective was for him to regain energy after the 21 goals that he achieved last season in the League and that were capital to lift the title.
The return to Atlético de Griezmann was an option of the maximum liking for Simeone, but the economic pretensions of Barcelona and the departure of Messi stopped the negotiations for the moment. Rafa Mir had become the most likely alternative due to his price and good relations with Wolverhampton. However, a new path has been opened: Dusan Vlahovic. The 21-year-old Serbian striker is marked in red in Andrea Berta's agenda and it is presented as one of the great tips of the future.
Vlahovic exploded in his third season in the Fiorentina first team, where he was the main figure so that his club did not end up fighting for relegation. If in the 2019-20 campaign he had already begun to leave flashes of the forward that could become (eight goals in 34 games), this last course has enhanced all its qualities. A footballer with an imposing physique (he measures 1.90), with the goal in the blood and a great back game. In the case of not being able to carry out the Griezmann operation, Atlético is looking for a young '9', with years of goals behind him since Luis Suárez puts the veteran to the front mattress.
With Vlahovic, a player born in 2000 and whose ceiling is increasingly higher, would join. Yes indeed, in Italy there is talk of an offer close to 50 million that would have been rejected by Fiorentina, that he intends to obtain 70 ‘kilos’ for his reference above, a very high figure. Andrea Berta knows him well, has been following in his footsteps for a long time and considers that he may be an ideal footballer to boost his forward. Vlahovic is a classic striker, who improves remarkably in the area, although with the technical ability to handle himself outside of it. He has a cannon in his left leg, with remarkable hand-to-hand ability, long-range shooting ability and is a specialist from the penalty spot.
Besoccer
He has an important passing game and a good stride in the race that leads him to be dangerous also with meters ahead. And his voracity for the auction allows him to finish the plays in acrobatic positions, always with the goal between eyebrows and eyebrows. Fiorentina took over his services in 2018 after starting to stand out at Partizan and Its market value has grown from the 6 million with which it began in 2020 to the current 40 for the specialized website Transfermarkt. In this last season he only needed 96 shots to score 21 goals, making the most of Fiorentina's offensive development to generate danger and give points to his team.
Atlético has been working the market in Italy for years, where it comes from From Paul (Udinese) and has focused its market on the evolution of Balkan players, where the squad already have Oblak (Slovenia), Savic (Montenegro), who came from Fiorentina when he signed in 2015, Vrsaljko and Grbic (Croatia) or Saponjic (Vlahovic's compatriot). In addition to Atlético, teams like Tottenham, who fear a possible exit from Kane or Inter, who have lost Lukaku, are following in the Serbian player's footsteps, so the rojiblanco club has a lot of competition.
The Serbian striker defined himself in April as one of the forwards of the future and set his eyes on Erling Haaland. “I watch him. I try to understand his completion and how he moves. Then I focus on my strengths and weaknesses. It can be presumptuous, but with commitment, I can get to your level too“. Vlahovic had his recipe for success:” I try to improve every day. I always try different things in training. The trick is to repeat the same movements over and over. Ronaldo always wants to improve. That is the secret of the champions“. Fiorentina's aspirations are very high, Atlético is following in their footsteps and Andrea Berta will try to bring the operation to fruition.