La Liga giants Atletico Madrid are open to offers for Nico Gaitan this month with a move to the Premier League on the cards and Everton and West Ham are keen.
Atletico Madrid are ready to cash in on Nico Gaitan this month and, unsurprisingly, there is no shortage of interest in the Argentine international.
According to Marca, Everton, West Ham United and Southampton are among the clubs who have taken an interest in signing the former Benfica winger, who moved to Madrid just 18 months ago from Portuguese giants Benfica.
The 29-year-old has not really made the impact expected in Diego Simeone’s side and, after a frustrating debut season, he only managed one La Liga start in the first half of 2017/18.
Therefore, it is understood that Gaitan wants to leave in order to secure his place in Argentina’s World Cup squad. A return to boyhood club Boca Juniors remains the dream but, with Atletico hoping to recoup the fee they paid Benfica, an emotional homecoming looks impossible.
So a long-awaited switch to the Premier League is most certainly on the cards. And the report adds that Everton, West Ham or Southampton could sign Gaitan if they meet Atletico’s £18 million price-tag.
Even though Gaitan will be 30 next month, and is enduring the most disappointing period of his career, £18 million would represent excellent value in today’s market.
The question, however, is where this old-school winger will end up. Everton could certainly do with a little more creativity in wide areas, especially on the left where Gylfi Sigurdsson has been forced to fill in with rather mixed results this season.
West Ham would also welcome Gaitan to the London Stadium with open arms. The prospect of the 16-capped ace joining forces with Javier Hernandez and a rejuvenated Marko Arnautovic in West Ham’s attack should have supporters drooling.
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