Atletico Madrid are so concerned that Man Utd could try to lure Marcos Llorente away from Spain that they have stepped up their renewal talks with the midfielder, according to reports in Spain.
The Spain international has had a brilliant season at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, scoring 12 goals and assisting 10 more in La Liga with Atletico currently topping the standings.
The boyhood Real Madrid fan has earned four caps for Spain since leaving Los Blancos for Atletico in 2019 after coming through Real’s youth setup.
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Spanish publication AS claimed back in March that Man Utd had made an approach for Llorente with the Premier League club’s recruitment team ready to part with €80m to bring Llorente to Old Trafford.
Any deal that saw him move to Man Utd would also involved doubling the Spaniard’s wages if he agreed to the move.
And now AS (via Sport Witness) are reporting that Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have joined the Red Devils in the race to sign Llorente this summer.
His ‘extraordinary performances’ and the fear of Man Utd making an €80m (£69m) bid for Llorente have seen ‘intensified’ talks between Atletico and the midfielder over a new deal.
They report adds that Llorente has no desire to leave Atletico and the club also want to keep him despite the temptation to sell due to the financial implications of the pandemic.
If Atletico Madrid win all of their remaining three La Liga matches they would be crowned champions with Barcelona drawing 3-3 against Levante on Tuesday night.
Barca were pegged back from 2-0 at half-time to 2-2 and after Ousmane Dembele gave them the lead once again, substitute Sergio Leon grabbed a point for the hosts.
The result leaves Ronald Koeman’s side a point behind leaders Atletico and a point ahead of Real Madrid, who have three games left to Barca’s two. Atletico and Real play on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
And Koeman said at a post-match press conference reported by Marca: “The league is more complicated now. The objective was to win all three games, but now it is very difficult.”
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