Atletico Madrid will look to sign Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio if they fail to keep hold of Gimenez this summer following interest from Real Madrid and the Premier League, reports Spanish outlet AS.
Gimenez, 21, has been heavily linked with a move away from the Vicente Calderon in recent weeks and Diego Simeone’s side are beginning to come to the conclusion they may not be able to keep hold of the Uruguay international.
Madrid have expressed an interest in the 21-year-old defender and now Manchester City have entered the race to sign the highly rated centre-back after missing out on Aymeric Laporte.
City, however, are unlikely to be willing to match Gimenez’s €65m (£50.3m) release clause following their pursuit of Laporte.
Nevertheless, Simeone has already begun sounding out alternatives with Musacchio heading the list of potential replacements.
The Villarreal defender has been plagued by injuries in recent years and he was only able to start 12 league games last season. Since August 2014, Villarreal have won more than half of the games in which Musacchio has been able to start (54.2%) compared to a win ratio of just 40.4% without him in the starting XI.
For more stats on Mateo Musacchio, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
