Maxi Gómez appears

The Athletic needs strengthen in his lead and the great effort of the rojiblanca sports direction is to find a companion for Luis Suárez, the titular striker of the league champion. Football player priority to Simeone it is Griezmann. Cholo knows that the Frenchman guarantees him a minimum of 20 goals and it is a very important figure to fight for the championship again. At Atlético they close ranks around the option of the Frenchman's arrival. It was not done before and no one has yet considered it discarded. It is a complex operation that takes time. Nobody is giving up the French striker yet. It is the first option, although the club works elsewhere and surveys other footballers.

Rafa mir is the first of the list of possible reinforcements at the leading edge. The Spanish striker, who is now fighting for the medal at the Tokyo Games, has 24 years, a great future ahead and it fits perfectly to what Cholo wants. He scored 13 goals in the last league with Huesca, where he played on loan from Wolverhampton, and will make the jump to an important club.

But Atlético also looks at Maxi Gómez, the Uruguayan forward of Valencia. Maxi also has 24 years, so it is an option for the present and also for the future. Has contract with the Valencian entity until 2024 and although his club has him, he could reach an agreement with Atlético for his departure. The charrúa likes Cholo for a long time, from when he was at Celta, and he knows the role that would have in the team, alternate of his compatriot Suarez.

The rojiblanco club already probed the option of the Valencian player in the last winter market, when Diego Costa left, but it was impossible, and it was finally decided on the transfer of Dembélé. At the moment, the problem with Maxi is that it is extra-community. He occupies a foreign place. And Atlético has them covered with Felipe, Lodi and Trippier. If the English did not occupy one of those pieces, the rojiblanco team could cover it with another player. Simeone wants a central fifth and the first chosen is Nehuén, although there might be room for Montero. The first stumbling block for Maxi is that.

The second is he economic. Atlético has its salary limit covered and would need take out players. And the club has several footballers to enter into possible operations. The Brazilian Mark Paulo, 20 years old, is a project for the future but it seems difficult that it can stay and probably come out on loan to get blanked and have minutes. It also has a Manu Sánchez, left side, with a good performance in Osasuna. But Valencia has good covered that square. There is also Arias, the Colombian right back who has been injured for almost a year and will be out on loan again.

The Valencia, for his part, does not look down on Herrera, Atlético's Mexican midfielder. But Cholo is counting on him. So much so that it could even be an important piece in the first three games of the Madrid team.

Griezmann, Rafa Mir, Maxi Gómez … Atlético need a tip and that is the challenge of this market. Hit with the 9 is what is missing for Simeone to complete a top-level squad.