Diego Forlan claimed on Friday that his club Atletico Madrid have turned down a bid from neighbours and arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Atletico hotshot insists club rejected January offer from city rivals
Diego Forlan claimed on Friday that his club Atletico Madrid have turned down a bid from neighbours and arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Real have been on the look-out for a new striker after losing Gonzalo Higuain for the rest of the season with a knee injury and they unveiled Emmanuel Adebayor on loan from Manchester City on Thursday.
However, Forlan claims that the Bernabeu outfit first made a bid for the Uruguayan striker, who has scored 73 goals in 112 La Liga starts for Atletico since signing from Villarreal in 2007.
"Real Madrid called Miguel Angel Gil Marin (the Atletico Madrid chief) and he rejected the offer," he told Spanish daily
Marca.
"Gil Marin spoke with my agent and told him that he had turned down the offer and nothing else. The rest is speculation."
Committed
Forlan, 31, has been strongly linked with a move away from the Vicente Calderon, with Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp publicly declaring his interest, but the forward maintains he is fully committed to Atletico.
"I am relaxed and my commitment hasn't changed," Forlan said. "We had some bad times last season but that doesn't mean my commitment was any less."
The former Manchester United man remains regarded as one of the world's top strikers having been voted best player at last summer's World Cup after scoring five goals to help Uruguay make an unexpected semi-final appearance.
