Gimenez\u2019s exit would leave Diego Simeone with David Hancko, Marc Pubill and Robin Le Normand as his senior centre-back options, so another option would be needed. Atleti have targeted younger players in the last 12 months, but in defence, there is a desire to replace Gimenez\u2019s experience with someone of similar ilk.<\/p>\n
John Stones falls into this category, and according to CaughtOffside<\/a>, he is someone that Atleti are considering for the summer. The 31-year-old is unlikely to be offered a new contract by Manchester City, whom he has been with since 2016.<\/p>\n Bayern Munich and Milan are also keen on Stones, who has made only 13 appearances this season. Atleti would fancy themselves to make a compelling proposal if they do decide to make a move, although the competition would be stiff.<\/p>\n At his best, Stones was considered one of the best defenders in the world, but right now, he looks far away from that level. Furthermore, he would demand a significant salary \u2013 especially so given he would be a free agent \u2013 which is another thing that Atleti would need to consider before making a move.<\/p>\n In this regard, it may be wise for Atleti to consider other options. They will be able to afford significant transfer fees, so they would not need to rely upon free agents, as they have done so at times in the past. The key thing will be to secure the best possible signing for Simeone\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The post Atletico Madrid plan ambitious summer move for Manchester City star<\/a> appeared first on Football Espa\u00f1a<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Atletico Madrid sporting director Mateu Alemany have already started drawing up the club\u2019s transfer plans for the summer transfer window. A new midfielder…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4982"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4982"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4986,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4982\/revisions\/4986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/albania-v-england-fifa-world-cup-2026-qualifier-1-scaled.jpg\")
Stones would be a risk for Atleti<\/h2>\n