Madrid, Aug 12 (IANS) Atletico Madrid’s start to the season has been complicated by a muscle injury to striker Alexander Sorloth, which means he will miss the opening matches of the new campaign.
“Alexander Sorloth has suffered a muscle contracture and will have to work apart from the rest of the squad,” informed the Atletico website on Wednesday.
The Norwegian’s injury comes at a difficult time, with the future of Argentina international Julian Alvarez still uncertain amid interest from FC Barcelona.
However, even if Alvarez stays, the 26-year-old only returned for preseason training on Monday after taking his permitted three-week holiday following the World Cup final and is unlikely to be fit for Atletico’s La Liga opener against Malaga on August 19, reports Xinhua.
With Antoine Griezmann leaving the club at the end of last season to play in the United States and Atletico selling Thiago Almada to River Plate a week ago, that leaves Ademola Lookman as the only option to play as a makeshift striker.
After opening the season against Malaga, Atletico then faces a difficult home game against Villarreal on August 23 before travelling to face Sevilla the following weekend.
Earlier, Atletico Madrid signed South Korean international midfielder Lee Kang-in from Paris Saint-Germain. The 25-year-old has signed a contract with Atletico until the end of June 2031 and returns to La Liga for a price reported to be around 40 million euros (around 45.5 million US dollars).
Lee returns to La Liga after making a total of 124 appearances for PSG in all competitions, in which he scored 16 goals, winning two Champions League and three Ligue 1 titles.
The attacking midfielder joined the Valencia academy when he was just 10 years old, making his first-team debut in 2018, before moving to Mallorca in 2021, where he stayed for two years.
He has also played 50 times for his country, including in both the 2022 and 2026 World Cups.
Atletico has now made three signings this summer, bringing in Spain left-back Alex Grimaldo and Danish midfielder Morten Hjulmand.
–IANS
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