Soccer Transfer Rumors 2014: Atletico Madrid Not Interested in Manchester United’s Chicharito, Chelsea’s Fernando Torres
By John Santisteban | Jul 31, 2014 11:33 PM EDT
Atletico Madrid are open to making moves before the start of next season, but club president Enrique Cerezo played down speculations about a possible deal for Javier Hernandez and Fernando Torres.
Reports indicated that Atletico will try to acquire Hernandez from Manchester United and are also eyeing a transfer deal with Chelsea for Fernando Torres, but Cerezo insisted that the two players are on their list of targets, while also denying rumors linking them to Arsenal's Santi Cazorla and Napoli's Jose Callejon.
"Many names have been mentioned, but none of those players, neither Cazorla, Callejon, Torres nor Chicharito (Hernandez) are on our agenda. If we sign another player, it won't be any of them," Cerezo stressed via ESPN FC.
Atletico Madrid, the reigning Spanish La Liga champions, are under pressure to make moves in order to have a good chance of retaining their title next season after losing key players Diego Costa, Filipe Luis, David Villa, Adrian Lopez, and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois this summer.
To compensate for losing several key players, Atletico, who finished second to Real Madrid in last season's Champions League, acquired striker Mario Mandzukic along with defenders Guilherme Siqueira and Antoine Griezmann.
The Spanish club also added goalkeeper Jan Oblak and on the verge of signing full-back Cristian Ansaldi in next few days after the Argentine underwent medical examinations earlier this week.
Cerezo expressed confidence that acquiring Griezmann for a €30 million fee will work wonders for them in the next several seasons, saying that the move is better than Real Madrid's move to sign James Rodriguez and Barcelona's decision to acquire Luis Suarez this summer.
"Antoine is the most desired player in all of Europe, he has proved that, and he is the signing of the summer," Cerezo said of Griezmann. "He is comparable with players such as Luis Suarez. James is not because he still hasn't had an established career. He is a great signing for the club, and we made a great effort to sign him. Despite having many offers, he decided to join Atletico, which is a huge club."
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