Atleti fear Saul's devaluation and need him to sign a striker

Saul's situation at Atletico Madrid is complicated. He was rumoured to be a key player in a swap deal for Barcelona with Griezmann and, now that it seems that this operation has cooled down, Atletico's board fears that he will be devalued if he performs badly, according to 'Marca'.

This could happen because, according to the aforementioned source, there is a feeling at the club that the player is not 100% focused. Certainly, if his suitors - Liverpool or Manchester United are two of them -, who are following him closely, see a big drop in his performance, they could reconsider buying him.

The Spanish side don't want this to happen because they need the income generated by his sale to sign a new striker. At the moment, Luis Suarez is Cholo Simeone's main striker, but it would be great to have a new offensive player to defend the league title.

Saul has already been on the pitch twice during pre-season and his level has not been particularly lower than usual. He started against Numancia and against Salzburg. The score against the Soria side was a 1-1 draw, and against the Austrians, a narrow defeat. And both with Saul on the pitch who could be leaving soon.