The Rebuild of Atleti

€243 million. Atletico Madrid have spent €243 million as Diego Simeone aims to build the next great Atletico Madrid side. The rebuild is underway and is slowly becoming one of the biggest ones modern football has seen.

Last season was a down year for Atleti. Despite finishing 2nd, behind Barcelona, in La Liga, Atleti struggled, and if not for Real Madrid's abysmal form and Sevilla's inconsistencies, Simeone's men might have found themselves in dire straits. In the Champions League, they were knocked out by Juventus in the Round of 16, despite leading by a 2 goal margin at the end of the first leg.

Thomas Lemar

 Some of the signings that they made last season failed to shine as well. Apart from Rodri and possibly Alvaro Morata, the big money signings failed to get going. Their biggest acquisition of last season, winger Thomas Lemar, who was bought for a fee of €70 million, made 22 starts in the league for them; contributing 3 goals and 3 assists. As per understat, he had an xG per 90 of 0.16, behind Nikola Kalinic and Diego Costa, and an xA per 90 of 0.15, behind Angel Correa and right back Juanfran. While nobody expects Lemar to produce copious amounts of defensive numbers, he was solid defensively, as expected under a Diego Simeone system. With 1.9 tackles and interceptions combined, Lemar was the most productive attacker as far as that metric was concerned.


Another name who failed to make a splash in Spain was Gelson Martins. The Portuguese was brought in for cheap from Sporting Lisbon, but the winger never truly got acclimatized to Simeone's system and left for Monaco. But the biggest disappointment had to be Diego Costa. He was bought for €66 million on January 2018, and was not the player he was during his first spell at Atleti.

This summer, Atleti let go of a lot of players. For a lot of money. Lucas Hernandez, Antoine Griezmann, Rodri, and Gelson Martins left for a combined fee of €300 million. Filipe Luis, Juanfran and Diego Godin left on a free. The latter three were starting defenders for Simeone, and made a combined 79 appearances in the league for them last season, out of which 70 were starts. What didn't help was their age. Godin is 33, while Luis and Juanfran both are 34.

The defensive contributions of the trio had dropped last season as well. Godin was averaging 3.2 tackles and interceptions last season, a drop from 3.7 during the 2017-18 season. Juanfran and Luis as well often struggled against better opposition.

Kieran Trippier

So the defense was of utmost importance. And Atleti have spent a fair chunk to upgrade this area. Kieran Trippier has arrived from Tottenham Hotspur for €22 million, after a season in which his performances were heavily criticized. Offensively he was good, contributing 1.8 key passes per game in the Premier League, a much better number than Juanfran 0.9 during his last season. However, defensively he has struggled, being caught out of position often and a lack of recovery pace exposing that right-hand side. No wonder the transfer has been described as a weird one. Simeone's ultra-defensive system and Trippier's defensive vulnerabilities are, at least on paper, not a very good marriage.

Two center backs have arrived to compensate for the departure of defensive stalwart Diego Godin. The Uruguayan has cemented his position as a legend of Atleti, and it was always going to be a chore to replace him. Porto's Felipe and Espanyol's Mario Hermoso have arrived. Felipe will hopefully be a squad player. 30 years of age, Atleti have spent €20 million for him. While his numbers during his spell in Portugal are good, they won't get any better. In fact, playing in a tougher league, there is a good chance they might drop. He has a better pass accuracy as compared to Godin, but considering Godin's all-action displays, that is not a surprise. It is Hermoso who is the more exciting prospect, and the player who will most likely partner Jose Gimenez at centre back. A Real Madrid youth player, Hermoso has shown promise during his time at Espanyol. A good passer of the ball with 5.2 clearances per game, Hermoso is a good reader of the game who prefers not to tackle often.

One Brazilian has been replaced by another at left-back. Luis' replacement is Renan Lodi, a 21-year-old who was plying his trade with Athletico Paranaense before being snapped up. A highly-rated player in Brazil, Lodi is more sound defensively than Trippier. A decent attacker, Lodi is expected to balance out Trippier.

Rodri departed for Manchester City, and Marcos Llorente arrived from Real Madrid quickly as a direct replacement. A defensive midfielder who was used as a bit-part player under Zidane, Llorente made only 7 appearances for Real in the league. He was solid during the restricted minutes that he got, and while Rodri's departure means that one of Spain's best young players now plays in England, Llorente, once a highly regarded talent, will be hoping to give some competition to Rodri for a spot in the Spanish national team, with Sergio Busquets slowing down.  

Diego Simeone

But the most exciting name to have arrived this summer is Joao Felix. A record buy for Atletico who splurged out a mind-boggling €126 million for the 19-year-old forward, Felix arrives to replace Antoine Griezmann. Felix had a stellar season last season with Benfica, managing 15 goals and 7 assists in 21 starts. He managed 2.6 shots per game at 18, better than Alvaro Morata and Diego Costa, and only bettered by Antoine Griezmann last season. He also had 1.1 key passes per game; only Koke and Thomas Lemar in the current team had more last season. At 19, he may not be the finished article, and Atletico have almost certainly overpaid for him. But the talent is there, and his preseason has been incredible so far.

There are indications that Simeone might change his style of play a little bit, taking into consideration the transfers that have occurred. Atletico managed 11.7 shots per game last season, behind the likes of Eibar, Huesca and Celta Vigo, and the latter were fighting relegation for the majority of their season. They also conceded more shots per game than the likes Leganes and Athletic Bilbao.

The rebuild is almost done. But are Atletico Madrid ready? Questions remain.

Stats courtesy: whoscored
Images courtesy: Wikimedia Commons