Atletico Madrid are lining up Leicester’s Jamie Vardy
to replace the outgoing Antoine
Griezmann this summer.
Griezmann is on the
verge of completing a move to Barcelona as the Catalan club are willing to meet
his £89million release clause.
Vardy scored against Atletico when the two sides
faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2016/17 Champions League but Diego
Simeone's secured a 2-1 victory on aggregate.
And Simeone sees
the £20million valued Vardy, 31, as the ideal candidate to be Diego
Costa's new striking partner.
Boyhood Atletico striker Fernando Torres is
a free agent after his contract with the club expired at the end of the season
meaning a move to La Liga for Vardy could well be on.
The Foxes forward received a call-up for England’s
2018 World Cup after scoring 23 goals in the 2017/18 campaign.
However, the 2015/16 EPL champions are keen
to extend Vardy's contract with the club and are reportedly willing to up his
pay from 100,000 pound-a-week to 140,000 pound-a-week to keep him on.
Despite sealing the deal for Portuguese defender
Ricardo Pereira, it’s set to be a long summer for Leicester as they also look
set to receive bids for want-away star Riyad Mahrez as well.
