Nicolás Tagliafico’s Atlético Madrid move collapses on deadline day
· Yahoo Sports
Atlético de Madrid on Tuesday pulled out of negotiations with Olympique Lyonnais to sign veteran left-back Nicolás Tagliafico before the summer transfer window shut.
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Atlético’s interest in Argentina international Tagliafico first came to us via David Medina and Isaac Suárez in Marca. Atlético were seeking a backup for Alejandro Grimaldo after long negotiations for Racing Santander teenager Jorge Salinas fell apart Tuesday; Salinas is staying at Racing after no club paid his €16 million release clause.
Tagliafico had been in negotiations to join Juventus before Atlético entered the race. According to Fabrizio Romano associate Matteo Moretto, Tagliafico spoke directly to Diego Simeone and prioritized a move to Atleti, having accepted his role would be as a substitute. To make room for Tagliafico and his roughly €3 million gross salary, Mateu Alemany had to clear space in the squad by finding new destinations for multiple players, including Josema Giménez, Thomas Lemar, Carlos Martín and Obed Vargas.
While the sporting director moved out Giménez and Lemar on deadline day, Vargas and Carlos Martín stayed. That meant Atleti could not move forward with a Tagliafico transfer, especially as Lyon could not secure a replacement. French media first reported its collapse before Spanish media corroborated later in the day.
NICOLÁS TAGLIAFICO. La salida del jugador estaba pactada y Tagliafico quería jugar en el Atlético de Madrid. El equipo colchonero intentó encajar la operación, pero se quedó sin margen. La operación no se va a ejecutar finalmente. Solo llegará Jonathan David en calidad de cedido. https://t.co/BVmuwt5nRJ
— Rubén Uría (@rubenuria) September 1, 2026
Tagliafico, who turned 34 on Monday, has spent the previous four seasons playing for Lyon, but the French side’s aggregate loss to Fenerbahçe in the UEFA Champions League play-off round last week has put it in a bind. With Champions League income lost, Lyon need to sell players, and Tagliafico — entering the final year of his contract — was poised to be one of the casualties.
Joining Atlético would have marked Tagliafico’s return to Spain, 13 years after he played for Real Murcia in the second tier. Following stints with Banfield and Independiente in Argentina, Tagliafico became a key cog in the Ajax machine that won three Dutch titles and reached a Champions League semifinal between 2018 and 2022. He moved to Ligue 1 in 2022 and helped OL reach the last eight of the Europa League in 2025.
At international level, Tagliafico has been capped 83 times for Argentina, and he started throughout the Albiceleste’s run to the World Cup final in July.
Signing Tagliafico would have marked a curious end to the transfer window. Salinas is the higher-upside play, but two factors — Racing’s posture and the player’s representation (he’s a Jorge Mendes client) — always made that a difficult deal to conclude.
Though Tagliafico is a smart, responsible defender who might be a better complement to the more-adventurous Grimaldo, I couldn’t help but think this is the exact type of signing that the new Atleti under Apollo Sports Capital’s ownership has to avoid. It would have been a strategic error: a cheap, low-upside transfer for a player who already has played the best games in his career. We know that Simeone and Atlético love their Argentines, but this transfer felt desperate and poorly planned to me.