Atletico Madrid are close to signing Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus according to reports in Spain. Juan Gato, a journalist with Cadena COPE, believes that the fee is to be around €27 million for the German international.
Reus is currently recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out of the World Cup and looked set to start negotiations with Borussia Dortmund over a new contract with his current deal expiring next year.
It is no secret that Reus would find a place into almost every team in the world, but he would especially be suited to the Atletico Madrid side that operates under Cholo Simeone.
The 25-year-old has long been a critic of some of his former teammates moving to supposedly bigger teams in search of greater contracts and has suggested that the grass is not always greener on the other side, along with insisting that he has everything he needs at Dortmund.
The fee is the real spanner in the works here as Reus is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world and would surely command a higher price than the reported €27 million. Dortmund may feel compelled to sell but only if they believe the attacking midfielder is not going to sign a new deal and will get no compensation from his loss.
At this stage, the ball is in Reus' court as he has the chance to test the costless agency market next season if that's something he wants to do, safe in the knowledge that if the right team doesn't come knocking on the door, he will still be in a good situation at Dortmund.
This is going to turn into a “wait-and-see” affair, with several top journalists giving Juan Gato their backing as a man of credibility, it also may just be a case of Reus' agent feeding journalists news to increase his players' negotiating powers.