Reports: Borussia Dortmund going all in on Gameiro

As successful as Atlético Madrid’s summer has been to this point, there remains work to be done before the window closes on Sept. 1. Atlético have to finalize a couple more exits after Šime Vrsaljko completed a move to Inter Milan on Tuesday, and the next players mooted to leave are forwards Luciano Vietto and Kévin Gameiro.

While Vietto’s market has just about dried up and it appears he will have no choice but to stay in Madrid until January, Gameiro finds himself in a tug-of-war. Valencia and now Borussia Dortmund are fighting for his services.

Cadena SER Valencia on Wednesday and Marca on Thursday both claimed that Dortmund have emerged as a surprise candidate to land Gameiro. Lucien Favre is believed to want the player and BVB have launched a €23 million bid in an effort to bring in the Frenchman. Gameiro and los Che agreed a three-year contract with a huge pay cut some weeks ago, and it was thought Atlético had closed an agreement. However, Atlético have yet to secure a replacement, and the delay in acquiring him (“him” likely being Nikola Kalinić) has allowed BVB to sneak in with a late offer.

Due to that bid, it is said that los rojiblancos want Valencia to pony up €20 million (rather than €14 million with variables) in order to finalize the transfer. Gameiro has been an objective at Mestalla for most of the summer and the reports say he has no interest in moving to the Bundesliga. The 31-year-old currently is without a squad number after Lucas Hernández received his #21 shirt and Diego Simeone considers him surplus to requirements after two hit-or-miss seasons in the capital. It is still expected that the veteran forward will get his move to Marcelino’s side, but it will involve a few million more euros.

Then again, one only has to go back to 2016 to remember how a slam-dunk transfer out of Atleti went horribly, horribly wrong.