Some say that La Liga is only
ever a two horse race, however Atletico Madrid shocked everybody a couple of
seasons ago, by beating both Real and Barca to the title. In addition they were
also minutes away from their first Champions League trophy, only to run out of
steam in the dying minutes against a well organized Real Madrid led by Carlo
Ancelotti.
Last year saw Atletico finish in
3rd place along with a disappointing performance in the Champions
League as well as the Copa Del Rey, by only making it to the Quarter-finals in
both competitions. As a result the Los Rojiblancos
(Red and Whites) would have been slightly disappointed with the season as a
whole.
Furthermore with the sales of
Ardra Turan to Barcelona and a trio of Mandzukic , Miranda and Mario Suarez
leaving the Atleti to try their hand in Serie A with Juventus, Inter and
Fiorentina respectively. It’s very easy to understand why a few Atleti fans were
a little worried, but fear not, as both Diego Simone and Enrique Cerezo had a
master plan up their sleeves, with €69 million coming in from those 4 deals
alone, not to mention another €25 million combined for fee’s from Raul Jimenez
and Toby Alderweireld who moved to Benfica and Tottenham. All in all, Atletico had
near €100 million Euros to play with and my o my, they spent it well.
First off was the signing of Jackson
Martinez from FC Porto for €35 million, which is a steal. FC Porto have nowadays
become a feeder club for the rest of Europe, by producing and nurturing so much
talent from South America it’s unreal. In the last decade they’ve sold a player
in excess of €30 million which is astonishing.
The very solid and robust Stefan
Savic, well know to Manchester City fans, after 3 very solid years in Italy with
Fiorentina for €25 million for me is a little pricey, however he will sure give
Jose Gimenez a run for his money competing for that second Centre Back spot as
to who will partner the ever reliable Diego Godin.
Arda Turan’s replacement in
Yannick Ferreira Carrasco who was unbelievable for AS Monaco last season, Arsenal
fans will know Carrasco well, when he scored the goal which all but sealed
Arsenal elimination from the Champions League.
The signing of Luciano Vietto is
a very shroud bit of business, Simone had gave Vietto his debut when he was Managing
at Racing Club, in addition to having a fantastic first season with Villarreal hitting
12 goals and being their top goal scorer for Simone it was a no brainer.
Finally since the sale of Filipe Luis to Chelsea, Siqueira never really filled
the boots left by Luis, so when Simone got the chance to resign Luis he didn’t think
twice about it, as it only one of their weakest area last year.
If you look at the players that
Simone has signed apart from Jackson Martinez and Filipe Luis, everyone else is
under the age of 24, which for me is a very good bit of business done by both Atletico
and Simone. Simone and Co are building something special in Madrid, everyone’s
going on about Barcelona and Real Madrid, but just keep an eye on Atletico Madrid
as they could be the surprise package again, with a core of Oblak in goal, the
ever dependable Godin in the heart of defence, Koke and Carrasco pulling the
strings in Midfield and the partnership of Martinez and the fearsome Griezmann
upfront in attack, it’s safe to say the future of Atletico is looking bright. This
season maybe too soon for them to topple Madrid or Barca, but in the next 2 or
3 years, if I were either Real Madrid or Barcelona I would be careful and watch
over my shoulder.
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