Manchester City make opening bid for Riquelme; Atlético willing to negotiate

Manchester City are preparing a €15 million bid for Atlético Madrid’s Rodrigo Riquelme according to Angel Garcia — and later corroborated by Relevo.

Riquelme is currently on Spanish under-21 duty at the Euros, where they have reached the semi-final and will play Ukraine on Wednesday in Bucharest. He spent last season on loan at Girona, where he played over 2,000 minutes in 25 starts in LaLiga. Under Michel’s guidance, Girona were one of the surprise packages last season...and they are part of City Football Group, which is a network of clubs operated by Manchester City’s owners.

Riquelme has a contract in place until 2028 and his release clause is €60 million, according to Relevo. They say Atlético would like him to take part in the team’s preseason before a decision is made on his future. The 23-year-old is not thinking about another loan deal, according to the report.

Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images

Atlético are currently building their squad for next season, with Cesar Azpilicueta, Caglar Soyuncu, Javi Galán and Santiago Mouriño all due to arrive this summer. Each of those players are defenders but Galán, arriving from Celta Vigo, can play as a left wing-back. Yannick Carrasco’s future remains in the air, with links to FC Barcelona and Saudi Arabia surfacing in recent weeks.

Riquelme plays on the left wing as a wide midfielder or as a wing back. He started against Ukraine in the Euro under-21 group stage recently and impressed with an assist during the 2-2 draw. He is being kept out of the team by another Man City youngster, Sergio Gomez, who they signed from Anderlecht last year.