Football has a sense of humour. Two weeks ago, Alexander Sorloth was the man making Barcelona's night miserable, scoring against them in a Champions League tie that had Atletico Madrid fans in full voice and Barcelona supporters grinding their teeth. Now, according to reports out of Spain, Barcelona want to sign him. The same striker who just scored against you. They want to pay for him.
It is the kind of transfer story that writes itself, and in football it happens more often than people realise. A player hurts you badly enough, you start wondering what he would do wearing your shirt instead. Sorloth clearly left an impression. At 6ft 5, technically accomplished for his size, and with an eye for goal that has become more consistent with each passing season, he is exactly the type of physical forward Barcelona have lacked for years.
The Norwegian has been one of Atletico Madrid's most reliable performers this season. Diego Simeone tends to get the best out of strikers who run hard, hold up the ball, and are not afraid of the ugly side of centre-forward play. Sorloth ticks all of those boxes, and he has added goals to his work rate in a way that even his most optimistic supporters might not have predicted when he arrived at the Metropolitano.
For Atletico, losing him to a direct rival — and one they are currently facing in the Champions League — would be an extraordinary piece of business to swallow. Simeone will be furious at even the suggestion. But transfer football is rarely about sentiment, and if Barcelona come in with serious money, Atletico's board will have a decision to make.
From Sorloth's perspective, the choice is not straightforward either. He is playing regularly at Atletico, he is valued, and the team is in a Champions League semi-final. Moving to Barcelona would be a step up in terms of prestige and budget, but it would also mean adapting to a completely different system under a manager who may or may not trust him immediately.
Two weeks ago he was the villain in Barcelona's Champions League story. By summer, he could be their next signing. Football, as ever, finds a way.
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