If we had to choose a transfer from last summer which hasn't yet fully convinced, the choice would probably be Alexander Sorloth. The Norwegian striker has scored four goals this season, the same as Antoine Griezmann, but far from his level at Villarreal. Right now, he is a regular substitute in Simeone's plans and doesn't quite contribute what is expected when he is on the field.
As usual, the center forward position at Atlético de Madrid is very difficult to fill, as you need to be a great goal scorer. Whenever that role has been fulfillled, the red-and-white team has been able to compete for all the titles until the very last moment. Now, a name unknown to most is emerging as an affordable option to reinforce the offensive zone.
Far from the Best Alexander Sorloth
No one can deny that the version seen last season would allow the Colchoneros to have a much higher effectiveness. The Norwegian scored 26 goals in all competitions with the Yellow Submarine, some very high numbers. Only Artem Dovbyk was able to surpass him in the league championship, scoring one more goal than him in La Liga.
However, he is far from being able to match those figures at Atlético Madrid, having scored four goals so far. His transfer was worth up to 40 million euros and expectations were high that he would improve on Álvaro Morata. it's true that the Spaniard had his best individual season last year, something that has been demonstrated by his numbers this campaign.
Simeone has always praised him publicly, but it seems that he is not yet adapted to his style of play. Therefore, whenever a striker doesn't work out, different names of replacements start to appear. There is one that has recently emerged and that will be very unknown to most fans.
Young promise of the United States
According to the CaughtOffside portal, the Metropolitano would be monitoring the progress of Ricardo Pepi, a 21-year-old American attacker. He is currently playing for PSV, a club that signed him in 2023 and for which he has scored seven goals and one assist this season. He already knows what it's like as an international with the senior team, playing more than 30 games and scoring more than 10 goals.
He would be on the agenda of other big European clubs such as Liverpool, Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund, as he has already played in the Bundesliga. The Dutch team would sign him from Augsburg for just over 10 million euros, the same market value he currently has. He is a young and very tall striker who could be included in the roadmap of the sports management to continue the renewal of the squad.