Why Filipe Luis Will Prove to Be a Superb Signing for Atletico Madrid

When Atletico Madrid won la Liga in 2014 and fought their way to the final of the Champions League, coming within minutes of taking a historical double, it was no surprise to see many of their stars be in demand during the summer transfer window which followed.

Thibaut Courtois returned to his parent club, Chelsea, and Diego Costa followed him. By the time 2014-15 started, David Villa, Toby Alderweireld, Adrian Lopez, Jose Sosa, Cristian Rodriguez and Dani Aranzubia from that matchday squad against Real Madrid in the final had also headed elsewhere.

One final departure was that of left-back Filipe Luis, who followed Costa and Courtois to Stamford Bridge—but one year on, the Brazilian is back, re-signed for around £4 million less than they sold him for. He'll be straight back into Diego Simeone's plans and can make an immediate contribution, with Atleti arguably looking as strong as they ever have done to challenge on all fronts.

Left-Back Problems

Last summer's changes meant an inevitability that there would be problems somewhere; the sheer volume of deals that Atletico had to manage was always likely to throw up one or two deals which were less than successful.

As it turned out, left-back was a key zone in the team which Simeone habitually failed to find a reliable and regular individual for.

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Emanuel Insua left on loan after failing to impress, Cristian Ansaldi had both fitness and disciplinary problems as he played only seven times in la Liga. Guilherme Siqueira, although impressive at times, also suffered from inconsistency. By the end of the season he was much more a rotation option than undisputed starter, with Jesus Gamez—a right-back usually—entrusted by Simeone to play much of the time.

Eurosport quote AS and Tuttosport (in Italian) claiming Siqueira is on the verge of a move to Juventus, on loan now with a view to buy next summer.

Offerings

Filipe Luis' abilities and strengths will come as no surprise to any Liga or Atletico watchers; he was one of their absolute stand-outs during the title-winning season. Many were surprised at his inability to oust Cesar Azpilicueta from the Chelsea first team on a regular basis last season.

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The Brazilian is composed in possession, picks passes infield well and delivers tremendous crosses from the final third—where he loves to raid into from deep, making the most of space ahead of him not with blinding pace but with intelligence and timing. With him likely to operate as first-choice left-back behind Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco in midfield, a pacy threat who likes to beat men with the ball at his feet, Filipe will have ample opportunity to exploit those advanced areas.

Defensively, Filipe is sound indeed, a strong challenger in open play, positionally aware and, importantly, also aware of the demands which will be placed on him by the management.

Simeone

So to the manager himself. Simeone places huge demands on his players—but affords them similarly large trust and belief when they give him everything they have.

He has proven himself a manager who can win titles, who can inspire players and get the best out of a group; it's unlikely Filipe had to ponder too long whether or not it was the right decision to move back to his old club, his old manager, his old league.

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He has already shown himself one of the top left-backs around while at Atleti and a year away shouldn't have dulled his qualities; if anything, he should be raring to go as a first choice again. The 30-year-old doesn't have anything to prove, but has everything to show.

Simeone will entrust him as a key part of the defence and expect to get the maximum back from him.

Filipe's last appearance for Atleti was the Champions League final; with the squad they have since rebuilt, it's not far-fetched to think that in nine months he could be making another appearance in the same fixture, two years later.

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