Atlético reportedly close to signing Guilavogui

Terra reports a €10m deal for the midfielder has been agreed

Posted by on August 31st, 2013 in Rumours -

Griezmann signed one year contract renewal on Tuesday

After losing Capoue to big-spending Tottenham, Atlético continue to search for a new centre midfielder.

It appears the Rojiblancos have their sights set on the Ligue 1, because according to AS, they are close to signing one of two French internationals.

Atlético has reportedly agreed on a €10m fee with Saint-Etienne for the transfer of Josuha Guilavogui, a 22-year-old midfielder who has already made his debut for the French national team.

The player of French Guianese background is considered to be a diamond in the rough — his power and work ethic make him a defensive machine, just as Simeone likes it, but it’s said his technique and passing ability are a work in progress.

An alternative would be Jeremy Toulalan, who Atlético have been pursuing all summer. He appeared to be close to joining us earlier in the transfer window, but his former club Málaga delayed a deal hoping for a better offer.

That offer came when Monaco outbid Atlético for the 29-year-old, but apparently Toulalan might now be available again after his new club splashed the cash on Sevilla’s Geoffrey Kondogbia.

Do you think it’s necessary that Atlético add another centre midfielder?


  • JohnGreece

    Well,if this is true and we sign him, this season will be a big big surprise…Excellent choice,i have told so many times that we need a good CM.Expect tremendous results this year guys!
    Aupa Atleti!!!

  • kris

    I am not sure, but I have it in my gut, that this deal “might” go through,, but Adrian will probably be sold first to Roma..

  • Fatah Kalluti

    off topic : Does anyone knows if Arda is suspended or not for the match against Sociedad ? Because he recived the red card in a diffrent competition ?

  • Jeronamo

    @Fatah Kalluti no he isn’t. That only applies for the supercoppa

  • We still need another number 10 like person.. and offensive player. but this guy is good he is solid his vision is good.. hope we get him (Y) !

  • kris

    Randy,, I actually like this…. This will give Oliver much more playing time whenever Simeone switches to 4-2-3-1..

  • heh what the heck.. very true.. and guilavogui seems atleti material so yea… we gonna win everything this year 😀
    Aupa Atleti!!

  • kris

    ahha,, but my only problem is how will I be saying Guilavogui and Alderweireld?? Guess, I will just call them by their first names… Toby and Joshua..

  • we are turning into Dortmund.. If you know what i mean 😉 LOL hopefully we could be like them too which we will 😀

  • kris

    ahha,, yehh,, Randy,, but Barcelona and Real won’t help us with our financial problems like Bayern helped Dortmund other B’liga teams…

  • kris

    But,, yehh,, we are a very good team that can compete against anybody in the world….

  • kris

    But at least,, it’s not as hard as Blaszcszykwskowski and Papapastathapoulous.. ahhah.

  • Just say Older Wire Old and you’re close enough to what it actually is.

  • GreekRojiblanco

    kris you can call papastathopoulos sokratis… maybe cause he is greek it’s too easy for me too call his name… but i really laugh when i hear greek names from foreigners:P

  • kris

    Damn.. Those names are still weird,, though.. I am just gonna go with Toby, Sokratis, and Kuba.. ahha.

  • GreekRojiblanco

    hehe… with you…
    anyway i don’t know guinalovui as a player anyone who can give me a report from him?

  • kris

    Nope,, no idea either.. I just watched some highlight reels of him. You can look up Joshua Guilavogui on Youtube and watch some of his highlights.. Only team from France that I follow is Lyon, so, I have no idea..

  • ali_

    according to as, and marca its (almost) done! bienvendo gilavougeguusheuiuiu

  • Kulan

    Guilavogui is doing his medical in Madrid right now!!

  • kris

    NICE!!! Bienvenido Guilavogui!! You are gonna learn what a great thing you did by choosing Atleti… Hopefully if you do great,, you can stay with us for a long time and play alongside Koke,Oliver,Saul, in the future… Welcome again,,,you will be loved by the players and the supporters… Aupa Atleti siempre!

  • Alex21

    I’m a little hesitant of this signing. 10 million for a player who’s highlight reel on YouTube consists of one gosh outside the 18. 10 million could have bought, if not almost bought, Ljajic who has proven himself in a position we need. We don’t need, in my opinion, another defensive minded midfield. I’m glad we actually got a signing, but i need to see some promise from him.

  • kris

    Alex,, we could have gotten Capoue for a much lower price,, 7 mil. I think?? Yehh… Or Toulalan for 5 million.. But,, he is priced higher than the players mentioned because of his potential.. Give the kid a chance,, sure he is no attacking player,, but he can fill in whenever he is needed, and I think is perfect for our types of counter attacks after watching some St. Etienne replay matches.. Imagine keeping up with Aubameyang,, well,, he was pretty good at it at counters.. I think he will do well,, and is a perfect replacement for Gabi in a couple of years,, and now, can fill in for Gabi or Mario during CDR or La Liga matches,, if fatigue hits them… But,, I agree,, we really didn’t need a DM,, what we needed was an attacking player like Ljajic and we actually would have been able to buy Ljajic for this price plus 2 million more..

  • Alex21

    I definitely understand the upside out him. I mean, Chelsea’s bench is full of high potential players and I’m glad we got one, but I’m not completely satisfied with our wing replacements. We need to sell Adrian now and get someone else and we will be set.

  • kris

    I can’t agree more with you Alex.. I was saying the same thing as well.. That’s why I was all in for us buying Ljajic,, but we couldn’t get him.. Who else is there?? Maybe we can loan one from Chelsea since they have so many options..Will Schurlle be a regular for Chelsea?? We can get him,, even though,, he is more of a striker,, I think he can play in the wing very well.. We could have gotten Nani,, but I think he just recently signed a new contract with Man U.. But,, we can still get Kagawa..

  • Kulan

    I disagre with you regarding that we don’t need à DM. I absolutely believe we do. We need a defensive player that can bring the ball up to our offensive players in à fast and safe way. At the moment we don’t have that.. None of our CB or DM have à good passing-foot.
    Guilavogui is à good passer and I absolutely believe he will be excellent, but he will most likely need a year to adapt.

  • arjit

    I also feel these defensive reinforcements are great. We have Alejo, Aquino and some decent youth players that can cover for the wing (kader even) but we haven’t had a proper ball winning midfielder since assuncao. Mario tries to play that position, and he does it very well at times but I think a real ball winning mid would do a better, more consistent job. As soon as champions league and Copa Del Rey are in full swing, we will need everyone to play a part.

  • kris

    I do agree with you Kulan.. But,, remember we have Saul who has just that great passing foot.. If we really needed a CDM we would have kept Saul,, but I don’t get this late signing at all.. After Saul left for Rayo,, I also wanted another DM but after seeing some of Gabi and Mario’s games, i saw that we really didn’t need one as we had three other players capable of playing that position, Koke, Tiago, and RG8.. But, now that I think about it, Guilavogui is a perfect signing and will be very successful for the present and the future..

  • Adnan khan

    I think dani Aquino can’t play for the first team this year. Only for either the B team or A and simeone choose him for the B.
    Correct me if am wrong 🙂

  • kris

    Can’t he promote him during the season?? I think he can,, if he does well..

  • Alex21

    Atleti should buy Alen Halilovic from Zagreb. Dude is baller.

  • Urman

    i cant believe we missed out on a good CAM… I mean we have done great this summer but still… Iturbe to Verona?? we could have snapped him up for sure.. He and lamela were the best next-gen talents from argentina…

  • kris

    No reason to buy young talented midfielders when we already have Oliver, one of the best young upcoming talents in the world.. We gotta give him a chance first..

  • GreekRojiblanco(piserakos)

    kris let me explain you something… oliver is a cam(like arda) he can also play at the wings or as a creative mid… guinalovui is a dm(like mario but from what i’ve read a little better)… the reason we baught him and not a cam is that cholo believes at oliver guinalovui mario gabi are our dm and koke will only play as a right mid so with raul oliver as back ups so guinalovui will not take oliver’s place… that’s a nice addition espatially that next season tiago will leave… aupa aleti

  • kris

    Yehh,, I know, piserakos,, i was replying to Alex and Urman’s comments,, Iturbe and Halilovic are both young, and Oliver is on par with them, footballwise, if not better.