Miguel Almiron is paying dividends for Newcastle United

After failing to record a goal or assist in his first 20 games after completing a record-breaking transfer to Newcastle United, Atlanta United’s former star Miguel Almiron is shining bright on the sport’s brightest stage.

Almiron scored in his second consecutive match Saturday against West Ham, bringing his season goal tally to eight in all competitions (which somehow leads all Newcastle players—a complete indictment of Joelinton, but I digress). His goal in the prior game against Bournemouth was nothing short of a delight.

And with the brighter stage, Almiron is starting to get noticed around the world and could even be in contentions for another big step up in his career. Late last week, his agent spoke about recent reports that have linked the Paraguayan to Spanish giant Atletico Madrid.

Almiron’s agent Daniel Campo admitted that while there have been some preliminary discussions between Almiron’s camp and Atleti, nothing official is on the table. But still, it’s not nothing. Almiron is clearly catching the eye of managers from some of the biggest teams in the world, and you can only imagine how well a player with Almiron’s engine would fit into a Diego Simeone side that often defines itself through its bastardness (don’t show me a red squiggle on that, I’m claiming it).

Nothing against Newcastle—I love being able to easily watch Miggy every weekend—but I’d also love it if he was on a top team playing his trade in the Champions League soon. That’d be fun and good.