Inter Miami Interested In Signing Rodrigo De Paul From Atletico Madrid

Rodrigo De Paul is the target of Inter Miami (Instagram/@rodridepaul).

JAKARTA - Inter Miami is in talks with AtlEtico Madrid to sign Rodrigo De Paul.

ESPN reported that one of the owners of Inter Miami, Jorge Mas, went to Madrid to start negotiations between the two sides to bring the Argentine midfielder to the United States.

To recruit the player, Inter Miami may need to vacate the contract space by releasing one of the three players on the Designated Player list currently held by Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets.

Alba recently signed a contract extension with the club until the 2027 MLS (Major League Soccer) season, but Messi and Busquets will expire on their contracts in December 2025.

Contract negotiations between Messi and Inter Miami are still ongoing. Both sides are interested in continuing relations on the pitch after 2025.

However, Mas told ESPN that Busquets and Inter Miami had not yet started talks about a new deal even though the door was still open to the midfielder.

Meanwhile, interest in De Paul emerged from Mas' recent pledge to do whatever is necessary and allows Inter Miami to remain at the highest level.

"There are many stars that I think we will bring here because we aspire to bring in more than one star."

"Do we have an idea of who the players are? Yes. It's not just about Major League Soccer."

"It's about wanting to be the best team in this hemisphere, including teams in South and Central America, including teams that are not only in Concacaf," Mas told ESPN in June 2025.

Atletico Madrid is ready to release De Paul this summer if the Argentine midfielder refuses to sign a contract extension with Rojiblancos in the coming weeks.

However, Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone will oppose De Paul leaving the club because he considers him a key player in his squad.

The 31-year-old midfielder still has one year left on his contract and Atletico Madrid wants to avoid losing the player as a free agent in June 2026.

According to reports, Inter Miami realized that having Lionel Messi on the team would help convince De Paul to join.

The problem is, Inter Miami will never be able to meet the transfer fees Atletico will ask for De Paul even though the two clubs have a very good relationship thanks to the friendship between Atletico Madrid CEO Miguel Angel Gil and Mas.

De Paul's potential departure would be a problem for Simeone, who needs to find a midfielder of the same quality.

If De Paul leaves this summer, one of the preferred candidates to replace him will be Valencia midfielder Javi Guerra, who almost joined Atletico Madrid last summer.

There are also concerns that De Paul's exit could have a medium-term impact on Los Rojiblancos. You see, De Paul is close to fellow Argentine player Julian Alvarez in the dressing room.

Despite the news about De Paul, Atletico Madrid have signed midfielder Alex Baena from Villarreal and left-back Matteo Rugeni from Atalanta.

They have also signed defender Clement Lenglet and goalkeeper Juan Musso permanently.

Los Rojiblancos further hopes to announce the recruitment of Real Betis midfielder Johnny Cardoso by the end of this week.

Cardoso recruitment announcements have been postponed as the player is on international duty with the United States at the 2025 Concaf Gold Cup.