Atletico Madrid ready to hi-jack Swansea’s deal for Las Palmas midfielder

Swansea’s pursuit of Roque Mesa has been thrown into doubt with news Atletico Madrid are preparing a late €15m (£13.2m) bid for the Las Palmas midfielder, reports Diario AS, via Football Espana.

The Premier League side were on course to sign Mesa in a £10m deal that would have made the Spaniard the third most expensive player in the club’s history.

Paul Clement has identified the Las Palmas ace as the ideal midfielder to help take Swansea to the next level after they successfully beat the drop last season.

However, Swansea may be about to miss out on the 28-year-old, as Atletico are ready to offer their Spanish counterparts more money than Clement’s side.

Diego Simeone wants to sign a new defensive midfielder following the retirement of veteran midfielder Tiago retired and the fact Augusto Fernandez is still injured.

Atletico are currently unable to register new players until January, which complicates matters further, but they are willing to include Alessio Cerci, who Las Palmas are interested in, as part of a potential deal.

Only Fernando Amorebieta (17) and Ignacio Camacho (15) picked up more yellow cards in La Liga last season than Mesa (14), while only Steven N’Zonzi (79.8) and Toni Kroos (71.4) averaged more passes per league game than the Las Palmas No.15 (70.8).

For more stats on Roque Mesa, click here to visit his WhoScored player page