With Atletico Madrid's Koke, What You See Is What You Get

We are all products, to some extent or another, of our environment; young footballers, very often, more than most.

Jorge Resurreccion Merodio, or as the world knows him, Koke, is no different. In fact, he is the living embodiment of where he is so proud to hail from.

Koke was born, raised and shaped in the working class Madrid district of Vallecas, where Rayo Vallecano are based and the place that also produced Alvaro Negredo. His parents still live there, and he frequently returns there to catch up with his family and the friends he has known and grown up with all of his young life.

An unglamorous, uncompromising, hard-working, no-nonsense community, not steeped in history or culture, but a modern functional suburb populated with proper people that ask for nothing that they don’t work for.

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Just like Vallecas itself, there’s no "side" to Koke. The 22-year-old midfielder is fast becoming the district’s most famous son and doing it by representing perfectly the very value and standards of where he is from. Just like his town, with Koke, what you see is what you get.

In fact, he is a perfect player for a side like Atletico Madrid and a manager like Diego Simeone. The Atletico boss is a man who values many things in football but none more than a grounded work ethic and uncompromising dedication, both of which are characteristics that run through Koke’s DNA like the letters through a stick of seaside rock.

And what we have seen throughout 2014 is, in my view, the best midfield player in Spain, which—despite some of the country’s recent performances—logically makes him one of the best players in the world.

Some are saying that he is a natural replacement to Xavi, and the truth is Barcelona are more than interested in signing him, if not immediately, then certainly at sometime in the not-too-distant future—transfer bans permitting.

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

For me, he is a different type of player than Xavi, and one who brings something else to the party. In a national context, he has progressed from admiring the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta to playing alongside them. And in the opinion of some, he is about to become the leader of a new style at the national side.

He can play the short passing game, but he is also more direct. His work rate makes him the complete midfielder; his ability taking set pieces is patent to see at Atletico.

It’s going to be very interesting times with a national squad that finds itself, at the moment, divided into two schools of thought. On the one hand, you have the likes of Iniesta, David Silva and Sergio Busquets and their touch game, while on the other side you have Koke, Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa.

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

It will fall to Vicente del Bosque to decide which road he wants to go down.

At Atletico Madrid, there are no such problems of definition of style, with Simeone setting out just what he wants and expects from his charges.

That said, the loss of certain players, particularly Diego Costa, means they have also had to adapt their style and go from a team looking to play the long ball and counter-attack, to one that plays it from the back and attacks together, as they look for a way to create chances for Costa's replacement, Mario Mandzukic, up front.

But Koke, key in both transitions, will undoubtedly take it all in his stride. Like so many of the young players that make it to the top so early in their lives, you get the impression when talking to him that you are speaking to a 40-year-old veteran and not a 22-year-old young man.

Very occasionally, especially when joking or relaxed, the youngster comes to the surface almost as if searching for that youth sacrificed in favour of the chase for fame and fortune.

Koke has found both, and I’m sure there’s more to come.