Another summer signing could be on his way out.
Reports from South America on Thursday and Friday have made the stunning claim that midfielder Thiago Almada already is set to leave Atlético de Madrid, just six months after joining the club.
Brazilian giants Palmeiras reportedly have made a formal offer for Almada amid a wave of interest in the player from overseas. Journalist Gastón Edul — an authority on players in the Argentina national team — said Thursday night that the final decision rests with Almada, but it is “very likely” that he leaves Atlético this month.
Similar to the long-gestating outgoing transfer of Giacomo Raspadori, Atlético’s posture in any Almada deal is to make its money back. Six months after purchasing 50 percent of the player’s rights from Eagle Football Group for €21 million, Atleti reportedly are prepared to sanction his exit if Palmeiras meet that same price — and the 12-time Brazilian champions seem willing to do so.
Almada has scored two goals and provided one assist over 432 minutes in LaLiga. He started each of Atleti’s first three league games, but a muscle injury knocked him out of contention for six weeks and has made only one start in the league since. Almada, Álex Baena and Antoine Griezmann are more or less competing for the same role in the team; Diego Simeone prefers Baena as his starter and Griezmann as his first option off the bench. Simeone iterated this stance Thursday, when Griezmann entered the Supercopa de España semifinal loss to Real Madrid in the 60th minute, while Almada entered on 74 minutes as the coach’s penultimate change.
This is the primary factor driving Almada’s possible departure. The FIFA World Cup starts in five months, and the 24-year-old isn’t getting regular playing time. Even after he said in the summer that joining Atlético was a dream come true, Almada’s absolute priority is the national team and reaching the World Cup in good form before possibly returning to Europe later in his career.
If it wasn’t evident before that Atlético’s summer transfer window was a disaster, this should clarify that indeed it was. Two players signed during it have serious options to leave the club already; two others, Baena and Johnny Cardoso, have combined to play 90 minutes just once this season. Yet another, Matteo Ruggeri, has been inconsistent and even timid at left-back, with zero goal contributions to his name across 19 appearances.
In Almada’s case specifically though, I think it is a shame and a mistake to sell him so soon. He has obvious quality and technical ability in his boots; he demands the ball and he has an innate inventiveness when it’s at his feet.
Almada however is also a player who isn’t comfortable in a 4-4-2, where he has no evident role beyond “maybe he’s a second striker? Idk???” I’m not saying “Simeone should change the formation to suit Almada specifically” — he should do it anyway, given the personnel at his disposal appears much better suited to a 3-5-2, a 3-4-2-1 or even a 4-2-3-1.
But ask yourself: was Almada’s signing really necessary if at least two other players covered his position? Who is primarily responsible for making these signings? Why did they agree to pay €21 million for half of the player’s rights?
Category: General Sports
