The signing of Kevin Gameiro shows Atletico's intent for the upcoming season. How will they fare?
Two weeks passed in frightened silence until a photograph calmed them, and now, there's excitement and optimism all over again. On June 14, Diego Simeone posted a picture on Twitter that showed him sitting alongside Miguel Angel Gil Marin, Atletico Madrid's CEO, and Andrea Berta, the sporting director. Below was a short, simple message that might have not have mattered in any other context but was huge amid the quiet. This was the news they had all been waiting for, and he knew it.
"Working in Buenos Aires," it said.
That was the first thing Simeone had said since May 28, and the last thing he had said back then, late on a Saturday night at San Siro, was that he had to think. The Champions League final had just ended and Atlético had been beaten by Real, again. Simeone had been beaten, again. Was beaten, in fact. He looked tired and drawn, his voice drifted. He was sombre, much more than he had been in Lisbon two seasons earlier. His words felt as heavy as the mood.
Simeone had recently renewed his contract until 2020, but supporters feared that this meant he was giving up, that he was going. And life without Simeone? Well ... it didn't bear thinking about. When supporters heard he was at the Vicente Calderón a few days later, they headed down there to plead with him to stay. He didn't say a word. For over a fortnight, he didn't say a word. Then, at last, came the photo: "working in Buenos Aires."
Working for Atlético.
Responses to the tweets of famous people probably shouldn't be read, what with their endless "bae" and "daddy" and "marry me" contents, but these were oddly eloquent and representative. "You had us crapping ourselves." "Our throats felt constricted; we couldn't breathe." A million declarations of love. When he returned to Spain for preseason, Simeone finally explained the silence by saying, "The Champions League final was like a death, and like any death, you need period of mourning."
You need time, it's true. You also need comfort and reassurance. Simeone did not offer that, the uncertainty growing, but he did seek it.
The photo contained another element, another message for public consumption: this was about working on the new season, but it wasn't just Simeone in the picture, or even Simeone and his coaching staff. It was Simeone and the club, the men responsible for making signings. The picture expressed his commitment to them, but also their commitment to him: their willingness to do what he asked so that Atlético can return to the final for a third time. Simeone was not the only one making promises.
Zinedine Zidane said the other day that until August 31, anything can happen -- can and probably will. But so far this summer, no one in Spain has spent more than Atlético.
They've invested €81 million in signings, a million more than Barcelona, €24m more than Sevilla, €51m more than Real Madrid. Nor is it a one-off, exactly. Last summer, Atlético sold well and reinvested, allowing them to spend €126m on players for a cost of around €10m. This time, they have been even bolder, and they have done it while resisting the bids for Antoine Griezmann.
Last week, Kevin Gameiro was presented before the Atlético supporters, having joined from Sevilla for an initial €30m, potentially rising to €37m. Seven thousand supporters were at the Calderón to see him. Barcelona had been an option, but Gameiro chose Atlético. He described the club as "gigantic." That is the plan, certainly. That is what Simeone demanded.
Gameiro scored 29 goals last season, 67 in total at the Pizjuan, and he vowed to score goals this season. Last year, no one had a better record when it came to the percentage of shots on target except Lionel Messi.
"Gameiro fits perfectly with what we want: he pressures, he is fast and he is tireless," said the technical director, José Luis Caminero. Alongside Griezmann, Gameiro offers a glimpse of what France could have had at Euro 2016. The speed, certainly, will be frightening. Atletico's attack looks strong indeed: Nicolas Gaitan has joined them too, and there's Yannick Carrasco. Angel Correa is there as well, and Fernando Torres has now been signed after a year officially on loan from Milan.
Asked what he thought about Atletico getting a No. 9 at last, Torres replied, "There is only one No. 9. That's what the shirt says." Torres remains the idol, the one still wearing that shirt, the best-seller in the club shop. But Gameiro is the "9" they were looking for.
Well, one of them anyway. TV cameras caught Diego Costa admitting to Sergio Ramos that Chelsea had not allowed the striker to return to Atlético this summer, two years after leaving for €38m. Costa was the man whom Simeone wanted most. Simeone had been interested in Gonzalo Higuaín and Cavani, too, but the pursuit of Costa was natural enough. In some way, it feels like they have been looking for him ever since he left. Or someone like him, anyway.
The money was too good to refuse then, or it seemed to be, but maybe this was a case of not knowing what you had until it was gone. Simeone knew, but perhaps the club did not. Mario Mandzukic came for €22m, Raul Jimenez for €11m, Luciano Vietto for €22m, Jackson Martinez for €37m. None convinced.
Mandzukic succeeded for half a season. Griezmann has been fantastic, and he is the one who didn't come as a No.9. Then there's Torres, who joined on loan. By the end of last season, he had the strongest claim to being Griezmann's partner, even though at Christmas, Torres' manager had been non-committal about his future.
The others have not worked out. At times, it felt as if Simeone was not really sure about any of them, perhaps even about the position itself post-Costa. The money spent reflected that much of it has been recouped. So did the turnover. Mandzukic to Juventus. Jimenez to Benfica. Somehow they made a profit on Jackson, who packed off to China, looking forlorn. Vietto has just gone on loan to Sevilla..
Vietto, centre, was supposed to be Atletico's star striker, but Griezmann, right, will benefit from Gameiro instead. There is a note of caution there amid the excitement for Gameiro, some of it echoing Vietto's arrival. Gameiro may well be different. He should be. He could be a huge success, but nothing is ever guaranteed.
Atletico's front two will be unusually short (Gameiro is 5-foot-8, Griezmann an inch taller), and the strikers they couldn't get but tried to sign do not fit exactly the same profile as the one they did get, however good he is. And he is good, very, very good indeed.
Caminero was perhaps glancing at Mandzukic and Jimenez when he noted that the striker "knows the Spanish league so adaptation will be easier," describing him as "quick, with a great shot." Yet that was true of Vietto as well. Vietto should have made them even stronger; with Vietto, they could get back to what they knew. He had what they needed -- he allowed them to be more direct, faster, harder to stop. Pace, finishing, movement.
Vietto even had an awareness of what awaited, namely his manager's ways. Simeone said Vietto had "extraordinary qualities." Vietto had played in Spain (scoring the winner against Atlético, in fact) and had worked with Simeone at Racing Avellaneda. Simeone had given him his debut at the age of 17. Vietto finished the first session dizzy, his coach taking an almost sadistic pleasure in breaking him in. Vietto finished his first season with just three goals. And while he may consider that he was given few opportunities, while he may be right, while he may be back, he is gone now. For a year at least.
For all those doubts last season, Atlético still made it to another Champions League final. Add a great striker to that while keeping Griezmann, and it is natural that expectations are high. More to the point: keeping Simeone.
At the end of that final in Milan just over two months ago, the fear was that Simeone would walk away. Now, the hope is that they will be back again for another go and better equipped than before, able to avoid the pain of San Siro and the silence that followed.
"We're going to compete for the league and the Champions League," Gameiro said. That's what Simeone was working on. It's what he wanted Atlético to work on, too.
Source:7mSports
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