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Hello! They said this might be a reserved transfer window. It’s not for Atletico Madrid.
On the way:
🐄 Atletico and Simeone beef up
🇪🇸 Liverpool go for Zubimendi
🐕 Arteta’s thieves and Labrador
😡 Father/son sporting rage
All go at Atletico: Simeone still backed after 13 years
(Mateo Villalba/Getty Images)
Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid is a life sentence of the best sort. I once heard him say that when he wants something badly, he chases it to the verge of exhaustion and his service with Atletico is proof: 13 years in the job and counting.
That simply doesn’t happen anymore. Across Europe’s big leagues, only one coach is on a longer, unbroken stint than Simeone — Frank Schmidt at Germany’s Heidenheim (who were in the lower leagues until last season) — and Simeone’s seasons of blood and fury show themselves in deepening wrinkles and wispy hair.
Forgive me for stealing a funny line from a subscriber called Dominic in the comments section of Dermot Corrigan’s article on Atletico, but time is making Simeone look like the evil alter ego of Elf actor, Will Ferrell. And guess what? It’s like Christmas in his half of Madrid.
Atletico and Simeone were golden a decade ago. They should have won a Champions League, if not two. They outgunned Real Madrid and Barcelona to La Liga’s 2013-14 title — “the hardest in sports history,” according to their ex-midfielder, Arda Turan — and frankly, Simeone would have been justified in asking if any of that would come again. How much further could Atletico go?
Yet here he is, with season 14 on the horizon. And here Atletico are, backing him with transfer expenditure few teams in Europe will match. The cost of the latest Simeone rebuild? Nearly £200m ($254m) — if all the pieces fall into place.
How can they afford it all?
(Photo by PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Atletico have been giving the transfer market its thunder this week so first, a breakdown of where they’re at:
The obvious question: how are they financing this? Largely through player sales. Alvaro Morata has gone to AC Milan, and losing his salary was as important as the modest £11m ($14m) they received for him. Others, including Memphis Depay, have been punted from the wage bill too.
Beyond that, Chelsea are poised to invest £34.5million ($43.8m) for Atletico striker Samu Omorodion (above). He is 20, has never kicked a ball for Atletico and will basically offset the cost of Gallagher. Nice work.
I asked Dermot if he thought this amounted to savvy business for Atletico. “Gil Marin is a shrewd operator, and the long-serving CEO and co-owner usually comes out on top,” he told me.
Atletico are Spain’s third-richest team. Simeone has done his bit by taking them to the Champions League for 12 years straight. With Real nicely poised and Barcelona shaky, La Liga might be shaping up for a head-to-head in Madrid.
Transfer Talk
Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
Away from Atletico’s supermarket sweep, two other transfer stories are worth mentioning.
The first is Liverpool’s interest in Martin Zubimendi (above), confirmed by David Ornstein. Without tempting fate, Liverpool cannot lose if they push that one through. Zubimendi, 25, is respected as an accomplished midfielder anyway but his temperament in replacing an injured Rodri midway through the final of Euro 2024 was exemplary, casting him as tailor-made for a big step up.
Taking Rodri out of that team could have been like removing the door from a jumbo jet.
Zubimendi’s release clause is £51.7m ($65.6m). That’s fairly modest in elite terms. The only obstacle? The full fee has to be paid up front, and Real Sociedad don’t look like compromising.
Elsewhere, a USMNT stalwart is departing English football after 12 years here. Tim Ream has left Fulham and joined Charlotte FC in MLS on a two-year contract. I hope he’s taking a Cockney twang with him.
📲 Live transfer blog
Arteta’s Arsenal: Pickpockets, a dog, and building club in his own image
(Getty Images; design: Dan Goldfarb)
I’m wary of blindly praising managers who “leave no stone unturned”. Given how nose-to-the-grindstone every coach is, it would be more of a story if you found one who cuts corners. Man bites dog, etc.
No two ways about it, though — the detail in James McNicholas’ piece on Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal empire is ace. We know Arteta’s got it. We know how Arsenal play. We know he’s changed the culture there. But how are these for little touches?
- Arteta hired professional pickpockets to (temporarily) rob his players of their phones and wallets at dinner. The point of the exercise? Be alert at all times.
- On the subject of dogs, the Spaniard moved a Labrador into Arsenal’s training ground. Staff and players take turns in housing her overnight, and they love her to bits. The dog’s name? Win.
- One of the squad’s social outings was a trip to the Crystal Maze Experience. If you don’t know the old TV show, get on YouTube. The Aztec zone was the best.
Positive signs on the pitch for Arteta, too. Arsenal smashed Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 in a friendly last night. Bring on the new season.
AI cornering market: Liverpool using tech to improve set-pieces
Liverpool Football Club: The Rise of the Machines. Not content with using special goggles to hone the concentration of their goalkeepers, they’re now seeing if AI can improve their corners.
Liverpool’s offices are riddled with scientific thinkers so it makes sense to push the boundaries. And if truth be told, their goalscoring prowess from corners is not great — as low as it’s been for six years, and no better than the Premier League’s average.
Via a partnership with Google DeepMind, computer software has been analysing almost 10,000 corners from England’s top division, looking for trends and minute adjustments that could help Liverpool secure meaningful gains. They’ve got the right idea — more than a quarter of Premier League goals stem from dead-ball routines.
The project is in the test phase. Liverpool haven’t rolled it out into proper matchday analysis yet. But given that their analysts are finding AI output as convincing as the real thing, it’s coming.
Around The Athletic FC – Mills: I’d have been worse than my athlete son
Emotions run high as George Mills confronts Hugo Hay following his fall in the 5000m heats 😬#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/bHTmlTeFEy
— Eurosport (@eurosport) August 7, 2024
🥊 The GIF above: British athlete George Mills confronting Frenchman Hugo Hay after their collision in the 5,000 metres at the Olympic Games. The image below: Mills’ dad, Danny, trying to strangle Robbie Savage in his days as a professional footballer. How would Mills Senior have handled George’s situation? “I’d have probably been arrested.” I know Danny. There’s a fair chance.
(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
🤖 Injury meant Romeo Lavia’s first season at Chelsea was a wash-out. He’s been using a virtual reality headset to help get his £53million ($67.5m) transfer going.
❓Much as Marc Guehi has shown promise, and much as Newcastle United want him, the sample size of data doesn’t feel big enough to know precisely how good he is. Elias Burke took a closer look at the centre-back.
🎮 If you’re planning to play Fantasy Premier League, it’s time to place your bets. Budget options are essential. Abdul Rehman’s come up with the best of them. Hot tip — Brighton left-back Valentin Barco for £4m.
(Top photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
