Atletico Madrid close in on Hjulmand as fee structure nears agreement with Sporting CP

Atletico Madrid are closing in on a deal for Sporting CP captain Morten Hjulmand, with transfer reporter Matteo Moretto confirming the two clubs are in advanced negotiations over the Danish international midfielder as of early July 2026.

The 25-year-old joined Sporting from Serie A side Lecce in 2023 and has established himself as one of the Primeira Liga’s most complete central midfielders, captaining the Lisbon club and holding a contract that runs until 2028. That contract includes an €80 million release clause, but Atletico have no intention of triggering it, preferring instead to negotiate a structured deal well below that figure — a well-worn approach for Diego Simeone’s side.

The player’s camp has not been the obstacle. Hjulmand’s agent, Ivan Marko Benes, has already met Atletico sporting director Mateu Alemany to discuss personal terms, and those talks are understood to have reached a verbal understanding. The remaining friction is entirely about the transfer fee.

Sporting have held a consistent position throughout: they want a minimum of €40 million in fixed fees, with bonuses on top, pointing to the length of Hjulmand’s contract as justification. Some Portuguese outlets have placed the club’s full valuation in the €40 million to €50 million range, while Atletico have been working toward a total package in the region of €45 million including add-ons. The sticking point is whether Sporting will accept a structure in which a meaningful portion of that figure is conditional rather than guaranteed.

Timing is beginning to add pressure. Sporting have a pre-season camp in the Algarve scheduled for July 11, and at least one Portuguese report noted the club would prefer the situation resolved before then. Prolonged uncertainty over their captain’s future is far from ideal preparation, and that internal urgency gives Atletico a degree of leverage as talks continue.

Atletico are expected to submit a revised offer imminently, with that bid likely to test whether Sporting’s resistance to a conditional-heavy structure has softened. If it has, there is no indication from either side that anything else stands in the way of a deal being concluded.