Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Leeds are circling for impending free agent Reinildo Mandava, talkSPORT understands.
The Mozambique left-back, who joined Atletico Madrid in January 2022 from Lille, is free to join a new club from July 1.
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Reinildo won Ligue 1 when at Lille but he’s been part of a rare four-season trophyless stint for the Madrid side and will now be allowed to depart.
Reinildo’s contract was set to expire on June 30, but signed a two-week contract extension to cover the Club World Cup in the US.
Cesar Azpilicueta, Axel Witsel, Koke and Clement Lenglet all agreed similar deals.
He will then be free to choose his new side from July 14 with interest also coming from Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Forest is aiming to bolster their squad following their qualification for the Conference League. Meanwhile, newly promoted Sunderland and Leeds will also require defensive reinforcements.
For Forest, Neco Williams was their first choice left-back last season, although the defender is naturally right footed.
Leeds relied upon another LaLiga signing in Junior Firpo, while a young Sunderland side found success with 23-year-old Englishman Dennis Cirkin.
However, Reinildo brings much more experience than the others, with 25 Champions League appearances and participation in three Africa Cup of Nations, complementing his 48 caps for Mozambique.
The defender also recently became an Atleti legend, earning a plaque on their Centenary Players’ Walk outside the Metropolitano stadium.
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His 100th appearance came in a 4-2 home defeat to Barcelona in March that ended Atleti’s title hopes.
Reinildo faced Barcelona once more on April 2 during the Copa del Rey semi-finals, but after the 1-0 loss, he remained on the bench, not playing in the subsequent eight matches.
He currently has 102 appearances overall for Atleti, the fifth most of any African player after Ben Barek (123 matches), Miguel Jones (129), Thomas Partey (188) and Jorge Mendoca (234).
Atelti, meanwhile, could secure a major upgrade with Bayer Leverkusen’s Alex Grimaldo recently flirting with them.
The Bundesliga winner was asked about a move to Madrid and said: “Atletico is a great club, one of the greats in Spain.
“Cholo [Simeone] has always built competitive teams that can compete with Madrid and Barca and in Europe.
“It’s a top club, but I can’t talk about my future beyond Leverkusen and the national team.”
