Manchester United and Arsenal are reportedly considering a summer swoop for Jose Maria Gimenez, with Atletico Madrid ready to negotiate under his buyout clause.
Daily Mail are reporting that Manchester United and Arsenal are both considering a summer move to bring Jose Maria Gimenez to England. The Atletico Madrid defender has been often linked with a move to the Premier League but the rumours have gathered pace with Los Rojiblancos reportedly willing to negotiate under his £56 million buyout clause.
Jose Maria Gimenez has been hailed as one of the rare breeds of complete defenders to come through – a mixture of the no-nonsense old-school and modern style of defending. The Uruguayan established himself in the Spanish capital under Diego Simeone after arriving from Danubio in a low money move.
However, El Cholo has largely preferred to go with the pairing of Stefan Savic and Diego Godin at the heart of the defence this season, which has seen Gimenez appear in just 16 La Liga games so far – underwhelming, compared to the 27 appearances he amassed last season.
Although a handful of it could be down to injuries, the 22-year-old is still unlikely to be happy with his situation, especially given the interest that his talent has generated. The likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United have all been linked with a move for the Uruguayan.
#Arsenal and #ManchesterUnited are both looking at Jose Gimenez! #PremierLeague #TransferTalk #TransferNews pic.twitter.com/ZadmTSsqZm
— EUsports.net (@EU_sports) May 13, 2017
Jose Mourinho could be in the market for a second centre-half this summer. Raphael Varane and Jose Gimenez are targets. [Telegraph] #MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtdUpdates_) May 9, 2017
However, they have been put off by the player’s £56 million release clause – an amount that is too high, according to the clubs. Also, with Atletico Madrid not being intent to negotiate below the release clause, there were reports of the trio backing off Gimenez.
As per the latest reports though, it has come to the fore that Atletico are now willing to consider offers of amount below the player’s buyout clause and are ready to negotiate with the potential suitors at an amount lower than the prescribed £56 million.
Arsenal have recently seen a change in tactics, with Arsene Wenger opting for a 3-man central defence in recent matches – a change that has also reaped rewards for the Gunners. Wenger only has Koscielny, Mustafi, Gabriel Paulista and Rob Holding as his available options, with the manager continuously being linked with a move for a centre-back.
Manchester United are in a similar predicament. Eric Bailly seems like the only strong option at centre-back with Phil Jones and Chris Smalling failing to impress Jose Mourinho.
Marcos Rojo provided consistently alongside Bailly but the Portuguese is still considering the addition of a defender, perhaps, with the intention of moving at least two of his options off the books of Manchester United, especially considering the rise of Alex Tuanzebe, who has been tipped for a big future at the club.
While Arsenal are likely to give an able competition to Manchester United and a lot could depend on the teams’ ability to provide Champions League football next season, if Antoine Griezmann does agree to a move to the Red Devils, we could see Gimenez follow his current teammate to Old Trafford.