Whereas a lot of the speak for the previous week or two has been about the way forward for Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid, in one other sense, Los Rojiblancos did enter a brand new period this summer time. The costliest signing of their historical past, Joao Felix, left the membership after 5 unsuccessful years, together with 18 months of mortgage spells at Barcelona, and their second-most costly signing, Julian Alvarez, arrived.
Chelsea will reportedly fork out €52m for Felix, which many within the Spanish capital regard as an excellent deal, however the continues to be a serious loss on the €129m they spent. Alvarez got here via the door as their subsequent franchise participant, signed to take the mantle from Antoine Griezmann when he leaves. He price €75m plus €20m in variables from Manchester Metropolis, and had a sluggish begin to life in Madrid.
Enzo Fernandez feedback below Julián Álvarez’s Atleti win publish. pic.twitter.com/ep0RgaYR0k
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) November 26, 2024
Following his brace towards Sparta Prague, together with two excellently taken targets, Diario AS level out that his complete of 9 in 20 video games is identical quantity that Felix reached in his 36 appearances in his first marketing campaign. Alvarez can also be midway to his profession greatest complete of 19 in European soccer already too.
It must be identified that Felix was simply 18 when he moved, and making his first swap overseas, and he was more likely to wish a interval of adaptation. At 24, and already established as a Champions League winner and World Cup winner, way more must be anticipated of Alvarez now than was of Felix then. All the identical, Alvarez’s tally is promising, in an Atletico facet which have been lacking a dependable quantity 9 for a while.