The Athletic will make between two and three signings to prop up an already champion project. Two or three signings that will increase competitiveness in a group that wants more, led by their coach, Simeone, which will extend its link with the club for two more years (until 2024) and that premise: keep winning. Unlike the title won in 2014 which, later, suffered a rout of talent (Courtois, Filipe, Costa …) and had to rebuild. Not this time. This time, footballers like Rodrigo de Paul will arrive (imminent, football only thinks of Atleti and Cholo only thinks of him) to shore up what is already built. Or others like Lautaro would arrive (Simeone’s request; more longing, more difficult). But all to add to that group with several untouchables. The pillars of Cholo.
1. Koke
He is your captain and main reference. The footballer who runs the most in each game and who best interprets the Cholo board on the grass. It is the oxygen and the skeleton of the team and, if it is missing, everything falls apart, Atleti loses, with a brutal dependence on their legs. This season he acted as the most positional midfielder and was the second outfield player with the most minutes (3,688 ‘). Fourth LaLiga footballer with the most good passes (2,155) and the fifth in recoveries, according to @atletico_stats, Twitter account that collects and analyzes Atleti statistics in more detail and meticulousness, the most untouchable footballer, a reflection of Cholo … And of all the fans. Essential. And it has been like this for many seasons.
2. Oblak
Second captain and reference. His miracle saves already have the reward of a League title. He achieved the fifth Zamora, although not consecutive, Courtois snatched it from him last year, and has established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the world if not the best. 28 goals conceded, 18 clean sheets and key saves such as the penalty to Joselu that gave Atlético air when it needed it most.
3. Savic
He has been one of the Atlético footballers this season. Not in vain has he been the outfield player most used by Cholo (3,744 ‘). Giménez’s injuries have not allowed him to play more than half of the games, making Savic the true heir of Godín. Not only was he the expeditious, efficient and fast footballer of always, he also experienced a great improvement with the ball. The head of defense is him. His teammates can change but he is always there. It gives a brutal security to the team. And to Cholo. Essential.
4. Llorente
From the game against Liverpool, every game, every duel, every race is an eternal big-bang, a brutal and infinite explosion that grows and grows, without a roof. Complete the podium of the footballers with the most minutes in the season in which Atlético was champion again (3,618 ‘). He has achieved the best numbers of his career in both assists (11) and goals (12). He is the LaLiga footballer who has increased his value the most in transfermarkt. It’s brutal how he dominates all the registers. Offense, defense, the man who breaks the opposing defenses, undectable, all power. Atleti is no longer understood without his presence.
5. Luis Suarez
He is the scorer that Cholo needed for his project. The icing. The footballer who, summer after summer, Simeone had sought without a prize, not even Costa when he returned (but he was no longer Costa …). 21 goals, three assists and all the anger inside to show how much Barça had been wrong with him. You are looking for a supplement that gives you rest and lengthens your career. He takes the goal in each of his movements. And that in football is priceless. Beyond the DNI.
6. Belt
In the end, it turns out that one of the best Atlético signings occurred in the summer of 2019, when Rodrigo Moreno did not make it to the team … And that meant that the Argentine did not leave. If there was someone who always trusted him, it was Simeone. In the past and this same season, with that hug at Villamarín, after failing in front of goal, which counts so much and is one of the photos of this League. Paternal, full of spirits, from which a Correa emerged as a Phoenix. Sums it up @atletico_stats with a phrase that already tells everything, without the need for more addition: “He has dribbled so many potholes in his life that he handles like nobody else amid the chaos When they came badly, there he was“He is the soccer player who was in all the games that Atlético played this season.
There are also decisive footballers like Carrasco (fundamental for the League title, especially since April, when Simeone advanced his position and brought him closer to the area to shine. Lethal in overflow and dribbling, he returned from China as another player, equal talent but more maturity), as Trippier (essential also but with the yellow traffic light on this summer since, according to The MirrorHe confessed to his teammates in England his wishes to leave Atleti and United is trying to sign him, offering him more salary, something that the rojiblanco club cannot at the moment; if he does not leave, he is another absolutely untouchable and essential player) or as Lemar (Cholo always trusted him and three seasons later his reward arrived).