Atletico Madrid to match Sevilla forward's €40m release clause

Atletico Madrid plan to trigger the €40m (£34.7m) release clause in the contract of Sevilla forward Vitolo and immediately loan him to Las Palmas for the first six months of the season, reports AS, via Football Espana.

Diego Simeone’s side are able to buy players this summer but they cannot register them until January after their FIFA-imposed transfer ban was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] last week.

However, while that looks to have put their pursuit of Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette on hold, Atletico are still determined to strengthen their squad this summer in a similar way to what Barcelona did in the summer of 2015.

Vitolo has been frequently linked with a move to Atletico all season but next summer’s World Cup in 2018 has complicated matters further as the Sevilla forward does not want to sit out for the first six months of the season as Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal did with Barcelona in 2015.

However, Atletico are confident they can put together an enticing loan package that will enable Vitolo to get regular first-team football for an exciting Spanish side that does not directly compete with them for places in the top four.

Simeone’s side therefore hope that the 27-year-old would be open to re-joining boyhood club Las Palmas, whom he left to sign for Sevilla in 2013, until January 2018 when he can return to Atletico and compete in the league and in Europe.

In the last four La Liga campaigns Vitolo has provided at least eight more assists than any other player for Sevilla (19).

For more stats on Sevilla, click here to visit his WhoScored player page