Nico Gaitan will leave La Liga giants Atletico Madrid and could finally move to England with Everton, West Ham United, Southampton and Crystal Palace keen.
Nico Gaitan is set to make a dramatic return to the gossip columns in January but this time it is not Manchester United who will be heavily linked with the Argentine winger.
According to Diario AS, Gaitan will leave Atletico Madrid in the New Year after a disappointing 18 month spell with the La Liga giants and four Premier League clubs have made their interest known.
The report states that Everton, Crystal Palace and Southampton would all welcome the 29-year-old with open arms – as would West Ham, who were reportedly offered the chance to sign Gaitan last summer and appear to be interested in doing a deal a few months later.
Gaitan would certainly be a high-profile signing for The Hammers, having played regularly in the Champions League over the last few years at Atletico and with former club Benfica.
A dynamic and technically gifted wideman who can play on either the left or the right, he would take some of the creative burden off the shoulders of compatriot Manuel Lanzini while perhaps providing some much-needed ammunition for the likes of Javier Hernandez.
Rivals Everton have money to burn, however, and may be seen as the most likely destination if Atletico want to recoup the £19.7 million they invested in Gaitan back in the summer of 2016, as reported by the BBC.
Filling the wide positions has become a bit of a problem for The Toffees in recent months and the 16-cap Argentine would offer more productivity than the frustrating Aaron Lennon and the exit-linked Kevin Mirallas.
But with Southampton and Crystal Palace crying out for more in the final third, they must surely be tempted to pay big for a player whose career at Atletico has never really taken off.
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