Rangers FC might be looking to sign Atletico Madrid winger Rodrigo Riquelme during the summer transfer window – as per reports.
The player is a youth product of the Atletico Madrid academy and he made his senior debut for Diego Simeone’s side this season but since then he’s yet to play for a second time.
And as the player looks set to enter the final year of his contract at the Spanish club, Marca are reporting that he could try and force a move out of the club in order to get regular playing time.
The report claims: “The 2019/20 season was supposed to be Riquelme’s first season with the reserve side, but after impressing Simeone in pre-season and making a mockery of the Segunda B division, there are question marks about his future.
“Celtic, Rangers, Hoffenheim and Ajax have all shown an interest in the youngster this season and Atletico will have to tread a fine line.”
“The club need to ensure that he gets enough game time to stay happy and flourish, even if he isn’t part of Simeone’s immediate first-team plans.
“He has a planned meeting with the club because even though his contract is up in 2021 he has big decisions to make now.”
Now as per Marca and TransferMarkt, the player is out of contract at Atletico in 2021 and right now the La Liga side values him at around £26 million which is way beyond the reach of Rangers FC.
But at the same time, Marca claim, the Gers are keeping tabs on the player.
As if this was not confusing enough, La Razon are claiming Riquelme is set to be a free agent this summer itself which means if Rangers were to make a move then they will be able to sign him on a free transfer.
The report claims: “Although the 19-year-old midfielder dreams of succeeding at Atlético, the truth is that he is free to negotiate with other clubs since January.”
So clearly there’s a lot of confusion regarding the player’s contract situation but if Marca contract estimations are correct on this one, then there’s no way Rangers will get even close to signing him.
