It has been one of the most fruitful links of the Diego Simeone era for Atletico Madrid – signing players for Barcelona. David Villa and Luis Suarez are the prime examples, having helped lift Atletico Madrid to La Liga titles the season after joining them, and both scoring against the Catalan giants. Los Rojiblancos have been linked with another Blaugrana player likely to leave next summer.

The latest to make the move was Clement Lenglet, who joined initially on loan, and then made his switch permanent last summer after rescinding his Barcelona contract. Antoine Griezmann also returned to Atletico after leaving them for Barcelona, and did so at an enormously reduced price.

Robert Lewandowski is recovering well and is working to be fit for the game against Elche on November 2nd. @Sportowy_Kanal

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) October 23, 2025

Andreas Christensen on Atletico Madrid radar

Los Rojiblancos could snap up another Barcelona defender next summer, as per SportsMediaSet, and carried by MD. A number of big clubs are thought to be on his tail, with several Serie A giants enquiring about his availability over the summer, with Barcelona willing to negotiate. Christensen’s contract expires this summer though, making him a bargain buy.

Barcelona and Christensen stances

It was little secret that Barcelona, in need of sales to ease their salary limit issues, were open to allowing Christensen to leave. While Hansi Flick has shown that he values his contributions, Director of Football Deco is said to be undecided on whether to offer him a new contract. The reason no move happened in the summer is that the Danish defender was keen to remain at Barcelona, and he told the press last month that he was still intent on continuing in the Catalan capital – albeit any other answer would not have gone down well.

🚨🇦🇷 Question: "What does Atleti lack away from home?"

Diego Simeone: "We need to win."

— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) October 21, 2025

When available, Christensen has proven reliable and assured at the back for the most part. Yet the former Chelsea man has battled fitness issues for some time, and has not featured regularly in the last two years. Incidentally, the man who signed him at Barcelona, Mateu Alemany, has just taken the same job at Atletico.