Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic could be on his way out of the club this summer after three seasons at the club.
There will be big changes at Manchester City later this year as the club look to respond to what has been a very poor season in 2024/25.
City have really struggled this term under Pep Guardiola for a variety of reasons.
The injury to Rodri has proven to be extremely damaging. And the loss of Oscar Bobb to a fractured leg at the start of the season was very untimely given how well he played in pre-season.
But City have also had very bad luck with injuries this term, and now Pep is facing a genuine battle to secure Champions League qualification.
This summer, a number of long-serving players will leave. In fact, a recent report claimed seven senior players could leave Manchester City this summer.
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One of those names was Mateo Kovacic, who is the subject of interest from Atletico Madrid.
How much Man City want for Mateo Kovacic amid Atletico Madrid transfer interest
Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
It has been reported by TEAMtalk that Atletico Madrid are showing interest in Kovacic ahead of the summer.
Kovacic will have two years left on his current deal this summer, but City know that Kovacic is 30 and may feel this is the best time to sell.
Apparently, the interest from Atletico is ‘strong’, and they have already taken ‘concrete steps’ to explore a potential transfer.
It’s stated they’ve even been in contact with the player.
And there is word on City’s stance. Supposedly, City are open to selling and would accept an offer in the region of €30 million (£25.2 million).
Given Kovacic spent three years as a Real Madrid player, any move to bitter rivals Atleti would certainly be pretty sensational.
Manchester City and Atletico have already done transfer business several times
It will be interesting to see if Kovacic will leave this summer.
By no means has he been one of City’s worst players this term. At times earlier in the season, the star – who Josko Gvardiol recently called ‘incredible’ (via Man City official YouTube) – has actually done pretty well in the Rodri role.
But one would imagine that City would indeed be happy to move him on if they got their initial investment back.
Transfer deals between Man City and Atletico Madrid
Kiki Musampa (Atletico to Man City, loan) January 2005
Martin Petrov (Atletico to Man City) July 2007
Sergio Aguero (Atletico to Man City) – July 2011
Martin Demichelis (Atletico to Man City) – September 2013
Rodri (Atletico to Man City) – July 2019
Julian Alvarez (Man City to Atletico) – August 2024
And there’s potentially a good chance of a transfer happening, with City and Atletico having done business together several times.
Most recently, Atletico signed Julian Alvarez for a fee north of £80 million.
The Spanish giants may look to raid City for the second successive summer, and one wouldn’t put it past them overpaying, given how much they forked out for Alvarez.