Atletico Madrid chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin spoke proudly in an open letter to his club’s fans on August 1.
“We firmly believe that we have a squad to dream big,” wrote Gil Marin, who also owns around a third of Atletico’s shares. “We’re ambitious, we take risks, we’ve brought in new partners to invest capital, which is necessary to keep growing on and off the pitch.”
By then, Atletico had already spent more than €150million (£130m; $177m) on new players during the summer transfer window, with signings including Spain playmaker Alex Baena, United States holding midfielder Johnny Cardoso, and Argentina attacking midfielder Thiago Almada.
Many around the club believed coach Diego Simeone had the deepest squad of his 14-year reign, and expected a challenge for trophies in Spain and Europe. Four games into the season, that fresh hope has already been punctured.
For much of last term, Atletico appeared set to compete on all fronts, but their campaign shuddered to a stop in March with a series of disappointing defeats against Barcelona and Real Madrid across La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. Qualifying for last summer’s Club World Cup in the United States was a source of pride, but their group-stage exit was an unfortunate embarrassment for all involved.
This summer’s spending was aimed at fixing issues in the squad. Baena and Almada, both now 24 years old, were added for their creativity in midfield. Slovakia defender David Hancko, 27, was signed for his physicality and character, while Italian Matteo Ruggeri, 23, and Spaniard Marc Pubill, 22, are long-term upgrades in the full-back positions. It was a similar story in the summer of 2024, when Atletico signed Julian Alvarez, Conor Gallagher, Robin Le Normand and Alexander Sorloth for a combined total of more than €180m.
The total outlay from this summer means Atletico have spent more than €350m on new players since Carlos Bucero took over as Atletico’s director of football in January 2024, an appointment that directly led to previous sporting director Andrea Berta leaving for Arsenal midway through last season. In that time, they have made player sales totalling around €180m.
Atletico announced they had sold a record 60,905 season tickets but a lot of the pre-season optimism and excitement then drained away when Simeone’s team took just two points from their first three La Liga games against Espanyol, Elche and Alaves. They went into the lead in all three matches, but threw it away with some extremely poor defending.
Atletico have five points from their first four games in La Liga (Ion Alcoba Beitia/Getty Images)
After each negative result, Simeone tried to project an image of calm and called for patience, saying he was sure the team would soon improve. Sources familiar with the thinking around the club — who, like all those cited here, spoke anonymously as they did not have permission to comment — pointed to bad luck, and especially the chances missed by Alvarez and Sorloth when the team were 1-0 up against Espanyol and Elche.
There was also criticism from local pundits, who questioned whether Atletico’s longstanding Argentine manager could get the best out of an expensively assembled squad that now features lots of skilful attackers but fewer tough defenders.
However, there was a huge cheer when Simeone’s name was read over the speakers at the Metropolitano Stadium before Villarreal’s visit last Saturday. Once more, Atletico took the lead, with a neat Alvarez assist for midfielder Pablo Barrios to finish. But again they looked shaky at the back, with visiting midfielder Alberto Moleiro missing two clear chances to equalise, and Nicolas Pepe’s free kick hitting the crossbar.
The difference from previous games was that Atletico escaped against Villarreal, and then early in the second half took one of their chances to make it 2-0. Their deadline-day loan signing from Juventus, Nico Gonzalez, found the net with a bullet back-post header after Marcos Llorente’s driving run and curling cross. That finished the game as a contest, and there were loud chants of “Ole, Ole, Ole, ‘El Cholo’ Simeone” during the final stages.
“We feel the same relief as always (when we win), with the responsibility we have in the club and the team,” Simeone said in his post-match press conference. “The team has deserved more from our games, but football gave us the points we got. Today, we put in a really important performance against a very good opponent.”
There is some logic to the 55-year-old’s arguments. Some of Atletico’s new signings have shown promising signs. Hancko and Cardoso have added more dynamism and personality to the back line and midfield, while Baena and Almada both impressed fans before being sidelined through injury.
But the team has yet to click, and the fragile confidence among players and fans was clear as Villarreal pressed to equalise on Saturday. Alvarez, Atletico’s undisputed star player, has been substituted in three of his four games and has been ruled out of tonight’s tough Champions League opener at Liverpool. Almada, Baena, Cardoso and centre-back Jose Maria Gimenez will all also be missing through injury.
Atletico are already seven points behind Real Madrid, La Liga’s early leaders. The ‘derbi’ against their neighbours at the Metropolitano on September 27 already seems as if it has the potential to end their domestic title chances.
Simeone’s decade and a half in charge has seen various peaks and troughs, with the last of his eight trophy wins being the 2020-21 league title. An industry source familiar with the club’s workings wonders if “Bucero is building a team for the post-Cholo era, with players of a different style”.
Still, there is no feeling that Simeone’s position as coach is under immediate threat. “He is too useful as a shield, he takes the focus off the board,” said another very knowledgeable source around the club.
“I’m in the most visible place, and I take on full responsibility,” Simeone said in his pre-match press conference last Friday, the day after Atletico’s Metropolitano was confirmed as the host stadium for the 2027 Champions League final.
“We’ve built over these 14 years an enormous legacy, and we must sustain it, which is not easy.”
Atletico president Enrique Cerezo, left, and CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin, right (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)
Gil Marin has been CEO since 1993, a year after his father, Jesus Gil, took control of the club’s shares. Many believe he plans to sell his approximately 30 per cent stake in Atletico, a club valued by Forbes at $1.7billion — but industry sources say that will only happen after the new sports city development is up and running in a few years.
Atletico’s hierarchy is always keen to show they are now one of Europe’s super clubs. That means ambition and expectations to keep growing the club and its value, and ever-increasing pressure on those ultimately responsible for the team’s success.
“The club has made huge progress and the team needs to do the same,” Simeone said the day before the league opener at Espanyol.
“First, the team progressed more than the club, then the club matched the team, and now the team needs to take another step to where the club has progressed.”
(Top photo: George Wood/Getty Images)
