Atletico Madrid are near securing a deal for Elche midfielder Rodrigo Mendoza, beating Arsenal and Barcelona to his signature, in response to reports.
The 20-year-old is a highly regarded talent in Spain, having earned promotion to La Liga with Elche and continuing to star in the highest flight this season.
Mendoza has played 16 times this campaign, scoring twice, taking his skilled tally for Elche to 6 goals in 67 appearances across all competitions.
He has long been a part of the Spain set-up at youth level, playing for each age range as much as Under-21s and played within the Under-20 World Cup in Chile last yr.
In November it was reported that Arsenal were keeping tabs on the teenager and considering a January bid to bring him to north London.
Real Madrid were also linked with a move for Mendoza on the time, while there was also considered interest from Italy.
Nonetheless, Sky Sport’s Gianluca Di Marzio reports that Atletico Madrid have won the packed race to sign the midfielder, with an agreement reached.
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The report states that Atletico have done a deal for just €16m (£13.8m), with Mendoza agreeing a contract until 2031.
Arsenal had interest in Mendoza before the intense injury suffered by Mikel Merino, but missing out on him may sting more as a result of the setback for the versatile Spain international.
The midfielder and sometime striker has suffered a fractured foot and will miss everything of the remaining of the season consequently.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta strongly hinted that the Gunners could make a deadline day move to sign a alternative for Merino, but that has not come to pass.
‘After all. Once you lose an enormous player like this within the squad, with 4 months to go and other competitions to play for, you might want to look,’ Arteta told a press conference on Monday afternoon.
‘We want to do all the pieces that we possibly can to see if we’ve got a player that is on the market. If we don’t, OK, we keep what we’ve got.
‘At this level, especially for 4 months, you might have to bring a player who has the capability to adapt immediately and impact the team. That’s difficult but when it was easy we wouldn’t be here. We want to seek out solutions and take a look at.’
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