Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak has expressed his desire to secure a move away from the club in January, after a breakdown in contract negotiations.
The 25-year-old has been Atletico’s number one since 2014 and has firmly established himself as one of the best in the business between the sticks, winning three major trophies and appearing in a Champions League final with the club.
The Slovenian is contracted to remain with the Spanish giants until 2021 but after a summer which saw Kepa and Alisson move the Premier League for world record fees, he had been hopeful of extending his current deal to fall in line with the inflated market value for goalkeepers.
However, according to Marca, Atletico officials have failed to offer Oblak a renewal and he now wants to leave the club during the next transfer window.
Should he indeed end up packing his bags and moving onto pastures new, his most likely destination seems to be Manchester United in the Premier League, who had lined up the Atletico superstar to replace David De Gea during the summer, amid speculation he might leave for Real Madrid – as the Daily Star reports.
This latest Oblak news could spark fresh interest from the Red Devils, particularly given the fact that De Gea has struggled to reproduce his best form at the start of the 2018-19 season.
The Spaniard has been in talks over a contract extension at Old Trafford since the summer but he appears to be stalling on signing a new deal, according to Bleacher Report, which could set the stage for Oblak to secure a move to Manchester next year.
United fans would surely be reluctant to lose arguably their club’s best player over the last five years, but Oblak is perhaps the only man in world football right now capable of filling his boots, having been the perfect last line of defence for Atletico in recent seasons both in La Liga and in Europe.
This story could develop quickly after Christmas, with both clubs in danger of being drawn into a new transfer saga if the player’s respective contracts are not sorted out one way or another.
