Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has spoken out after the club failed to land Edinson Cavani during the January transfer window.
“I think it’s shameful the situation of some players with their agents and relatives” he said, speaking after Atletico’s 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Madrid derby on Saturday. “We’re not here to be robbed.”
Sources have told ESPN that Atletico were unwilling to meet Paris Saint-Germain’s €20 million asking price for the Uruguayan centre-forward, who is out of contract this summer.
PSG would have let Cavani, 32, go in January if Atletico could have gone a little further, but the Ligue 1 club’s sporting director Leonardo was unwilling to compromise, and the Uruguay international’s brother ultimately left Madrid with no deal complete.
When that deal broke down, Atletico turned to former player Yannick Carrasco as a short-term solution to their goalscoring crisis, bringing the Belgium international in on loan until the end of the season.
Cavani came on as a substitute in PSG’s 5-0 win over Montpellier on Saturday and thought he had netted his 199th goal for the club in a rare appearance this season, but it was ruled out for offside.