Manchester City transfer news: Alvaro Negredo looking for move back to Spain with Atletico Madrid keen on striker - reports

Striker has only been at the Etihad for a season and scored 23 goals last term

Alvaro Negredo – 5: On for the influential Toure. Not enough time to make his presence felt. (Getty Images)

Manchester City could be on the hunt for a new striker after reports emerged claiming striker Alvaro Negredo wants to return to Spain this summer.

Negredo only joined the Premier League champions last season, but despite attempting to fend off interest from his homeland, the Daily Mail claims that Negredo wants to join Atletico Madrid.

Affectionately named ‘The Beast’ by the City faithful, Negredo made an electric start to life in the Premier League, striking up a formidable partnership with Sergio Aguero that appeared to be firing City to the title with consummate ease early in the season.

But despite scoring 23 goals, Negredo fell out of Manuel Pellegrini’s first team plans, and ultimately missed out on a spot in Vicente del Bosque’s Spain squad that failed to defend their World Cup in such dramatic circumstances.

Having been signed for £20.6m last summer from Seville on a £75,000-a-week contract, an exit would come as a surprise given that City secured the Premier League title last season and look to be in a very good position to challenge on all front next term.

But Atletico are believed to be confident that they can persuade Pellegrini to part with Negredo for a fee in the region of £24m. The La Liga champions are on the lookout for a new striker to lead their attack, after Chelsea agreed a deal with the Champions League runners-up to sign Diego Costa for his buy-out fee of £32m this week.

City have already signed midfielder Fernando from Porto for £12m, but with Negredo, Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic all on the books they will not have expected to dip in to the transfer market for another striker.

Any departure of Negredo could lead to that changing, and the large sum of money they would generate from his sale would help to reinvest in the squad despite the threat from Uefa’s Financial Fair Play.