Atletico Madrid were keen to find a destination for left-back Javi Galan before the end of the transfer window, but he will be remaining at the Metropolitano at least until January. The 30-year-old has barely featured in the opening stages of the season.
Despite having lost Reinildo Mandava, and only signed one replacement, Los Rojiblancos were willing to find an exit for Galan. On Saturday against Alaves, Diego Simeone opted to use David Hancko on the left of defence, dropping both Galan and Matteo Ruggeri from the line-up. Galan has played 15 minutes from the bench against Elche so far.
At last, Carlos Martín will fulfill his lifelong dream of playing for Atlético Madrid’s first team.
It’s your time to shine. Make us proud, @carlos7atm.
Se queda. ❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/aEfi1uqNTY
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) September 2, 2025
Nottingham Forest move for Galan
It looked very much as if Galan was on the verge of an exit, with a deal agreed to take him to the Premier League and Nottingham Forest. Marca say that a deal had been reached between Atletico and Forest for Galan, and that documents were being exchanged to complete the deal in the final hour of the English transfer window.
Forest ghost Atletico Madrid at the death
That information is backed up by Matteo Moretto, who says that all was in place for the move to go through, but at the last moment, with only the signatures to be tended, Forest decided not to complete the move. Shortly after, Forest announced the signing of another left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko from Arsenal on a season-long loan.
Tras el acuerdo verbal alcanzado entre Nottingham Forest y Atlético por Javi Galán, las partes revisaron algunos puntos y no es en absoluto seguro que el traspaso llegue hasta las firmas.
La negociación puede romperse. https://t.co/05ACAdfAQM
— Matteo Moretto (@MatteMoretto) September 1, 2025
More depth for Simeone at left-back
It leaves something of a difficult situation behind for Atletico, with Galan clearly not part of Simeone’s plans. However, as noted, it may not be so bad for Los Colchoneros to retain some extra depth at the position which currently only has one specialist in Ruggeri, excepting Galan. Last season, Galan played 40 times for Atletico, including 34 starts, and gave five assists.
