Renan Lodi joins Marseille for €13 million; Atlético keep 20 percent of a future sale

Update, July 15: Atlético have confirmed Lodi’s departure for €13 million plus a generous sell-on clause. He joins Marseille on a contract to 2028, and Atleti will pocket around €6 million for his sale — €7 million remained to be amortized from his 2019 transfer.

The original story from Thursday, July 13, is below.

Atlético Madrid have already finalized multiple new defensive signings this summer — and now it’s time to focus on the outgoing players.

João Félix’s immediate future has yet to be sorted out, as the player reportedly has just one offer on the table — from Premier League side Aston Villa. Geoffrey Kondogbia left the club early in this summer transfer window, signing for Olympique Marseille on a long-term deal — and one of his former Atlético teammates will soon join him in Ligue 1.

Reports Wednesday night stated that Marcelino’s Marseille will win the race to sign left-back Renan Lodi on a permanent deal. According to Marca, talks over the Brazilian advanced quickly this week, with OM submitting a revised bid this week that Atleti found acceptable — largely due to the insertion of a 20 percent sell-on clause.

Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Lodi will leave Atlético having made 118 appearances in all competitions and after earning a plaque on the Cívitias Metropolitano’s Paseo de los Jugadores Centenarios for reaching that 100-game mark. The 25-year-old’s eye for goal played a huge role in Los Rojiblancos’ LaLiga conquest two years ago, as well as their Champions League last 16 triumph over Manchester United in 2022. He also showed potential to be a lockdown defender, notably pocketing Trent Alexander-Arnold when Atleti hosted Liverpool in February 2020.

But Lodi’s inconsistency frustrated Diego Simeone, and by the end of the 2021/22 season, the former Athletico Paranaense star was no longer in El Cholo’s plans. Atlético loaned Lodi to Nottingham Forest last season in response, and he was a regular starter at City Ground, but the Tricky Trees declined to pick up his €30 million buy option last month.

Atleti were always willing to sanction a move for a fee well below Lodi’s €120 million release clause — especially as he wasn’t going to have a place in the 2023/24 squad, either, with Yannick Carrasco, Reinildo Mandava, and new signing Javi Galán already battling for minutes on the left flank.