Atletico Madrid have been dealt a major blow in their push to sign Girona striker Artem Dovbyk.
Los Rojiblancos have been pursuing a deal for the Ukrainian international since the end of last season after topping the La Liga goal charts with 24 goals.
His stock has rocketed since then, with Atletico Madrid moving swiftly to register their interest, ahead of European rivals.
The latest update indicates they will pay between €35-40m to bring him to the Spanish capital but they have not agreed personal terms with the 27-year-old.
AS Roma have now reportedly gained an an edge in the race for Dovbyk and his agent has slammed Atletico Madrid’s approach as he looks closer to Italy at this stage.
“Atletico Madrid is a great club, but we didn’t see a serious project for Artem there and their offer is significantly lower than other clubs for the league’s top scorer”, as per quotes from Marca.
Those comments appear to indicate Atletico’s pursuit could already be over, unless they are able to make a significant financial increase in the coming days, which does not look likely at this stage of talks.
