Atletico Madrid had long been looking to sign a new central midfielder, and throughout 2024, they looked at many options. One of the leading ones of Mats Wieffer – they considered him in January and during the summer, although it did not work out, and they eventually would go on to acquire the services of Conor Gallagher from Chelsea.
In Wieffer’s case, he could have been the player picked up by Atleti, and as he told ELF Voetbal (via [MD](https://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbol/atletico-madrid/20241221/1002375053/wieffer-explico-que-paso-fichaje-frustrado-atletico.html)), any chances of a deal happening were ended by Feyenoord.
“Last winter, I was close to signing for Atletico Madrid. I spoke with them, and they explained the project to me, which was very good, but Feyenoord didn’t want to let me go. After that, I didn’t hear anything from them.”
Wieffer ended up moving to Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion during the summer transfer window, so that chances of [Atletico Madrid](https://www.football-espana.net/category/la-liga/atletico-madrid) going for him again any time in the bear future are very slim.