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Mourinho's Roma set sights on Atlético Madrid's Héctor Herrera

A lack of playing time could tempt the Mexican midfielder to move on in January. José Mourinho's Roma are principal candidates.

Update:
Mourinho's Roma set sights on Atlético Madrid's Héctor Herrera
JAVIER SORIANOAFP

Héctor Herrera's time at Atlético Madrid could be nearing an end. The Mexican midfielder has racked up just 301 minutes on-field as we approach the midway point of the season, spread over 10 games in LaLiga and Champions League. That lack of playing time could be good enough reason for Héctor to seek more involvement elsewhere. One possible outlet during the winter transfer window is Roma, according to Portuguese daily A Bola. The Italians are looking to sign a midfielder next month and José Mourinho has his eyes on the Atlético player.

While Diego Simeone has total faith in Héctor as a squad player, he hasn't exactly been handing him many opportunities. He has been in the starting XI just twice. He played 22 minutes in the derby against Real Madrid, but before that, he hadn't featured since 7 November when he made a three-minute appearance against Valencia. As for his contractual situation, he will be a free agent in June, but signing him next month wouldn't be an excessively expensive operation. However, it is unlikely that Atlético would be willing to let a player of his category leave at this stage of the campaign. Atleti have had to contend with a lot of injury problems - plus the worrying Covid-19 situation which has affected all of the clubs in LaLiga. El Cholo better than anyone that he might need to call on the Mexican between now and May.

Mourinho is keen to capitalise on Héctor's situation at Atlético, who he joined on a free contract from Porto. The coach plans to put in a bid for the player in the next few weeks. At 31, Hector might be open to a move to another league where he might get more game time, and Roma would fit the bill. According to reports coming out of Italy, Mou is planning to make several reinforcements during the January window. One of the positions he is looking to full is in midfield. At the moment, Roma are sixth in Serie A, and seven points off the Champions League qualifying places.