Football Transfer Stories: Atletico Madrid and the Falcao-Forlan-Osvaldo Domino Theory

Things are speeding up on the transfer front as the 31st of August deadline nears for Spanish La Liga clubs. One of those, Atletico Madrid, has an ambitious plan: to sign two star forwards to replace Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan.

Falcao the priority for Atletico

The first priority is to sign Colombian International and Porto forward Radamel Falcao. This operation has been a tough one with Porto knowing full well that Atletico has just received a healthy flow of cash, thus holding out for a high price. There are various options and formulas for buying Falcao: splitting payments, variables and players etc, but it looks as if it will be a payment in parts and hefty (38M€). The key aspect to this transfer story is the player’s public comments this weekend when he said that he would “love” to go to Atletico because it presents a fabulous career opportunity. Apparently there is an agreement in place between the clubs and they are discussing payment methods today before making things official.

Espanyol man Osvaldo is looked at as a prospect to join Falcao up front to provide the necessary firepower

The second signing could be Espanyol forward Osvaldo, who is seen as the firepower option to join Falcao up front.  Reports suggest that Osvaldo has already received a lucrative offer from AS Roma, but according to Spanish Sports paper “AS“, Atletico and Espanyol bosses have already met to discuss the transfer, which would be done at a price of 20M€ ( 16M€ cash plus 4 in variables). Plus Osvaldo has an “agreement” in principle with Atletico, which means it is now left to the clubs to finalise the deal.

Where does this all leave Diego Forlan, Atletico Madrid’s star man as of now?  Here is the key. Atletico de Madrid have to sell Forlan first so as to sign Osvaldo, which means this last operation may be delayed. The other player in this chess game is Inter Milan, who are about to lose Samuel Eto’o to Russian Premier League side Anzhi Makhachkala. The Italians wish to substitute Eto´o with Forlan.  Since Forlan has expressed interest in the move to Inter, this transfer looks very much doable.

Interesting days lie ahead at Atletico Madrid as everyone awaits the fall of the first domino to set off the chain reaction of events. That is, first Falcao, then Eto´o, followed by Forlan and lastly Osvaldo.