4 Players from the Past 10 Years Atletico Madrid Should Not Have Sold
The trouble with being a club like Atletico Madrid is that, however successful you are, however many La Liga titles you may win or Champions League finals you reach, you are always going to be susceptible to the so-called “big boys” being interested in your players.
Over the past decade, there has been nothing that Atletico could do about the sales of the likes of Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero, Radamel Falcao and Diego Costa, all of whom were tempted away by the greater riches and bigger challenges that they felt lay ahead.
There was a sense of inevitability about those transfers, but what about the ones which got away? What about the players that Atletico didn’t need to sell but did so anyway?
Do they regret not holding onto these four names from the past 10 years?
Thiago Motta
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After recurring knee problems brought an end to his six-year association with Barcelona in 2007 aged just 24, there weren’t many options around for the midfielder Thiago Motta, and he was happy to be given a one-year deal by Atletico as he sought to rediscover full fitness—which many thought he was now incapable of.
Sure enough, Motta would manage just eight appearances for Atleti across the 2007/08 season, failing to do enough to secure a longer deal as many felt that a once-promising career now looked over.
However, after his release he soon found fitness at Genoa and then Internazionale, and following a switch in international allegiance from Brazil to Italy he now has 30 international caps and has just won his fourth Ligue 1 title in four years at Paris Saint-Germain.
That knee suddenly seems a whole lot stronger.
Ignacio Camacho
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It’s a bit of a reach, perhaps, but there will be some figures at Atletico Madrid who will have looked at midfielder Ignacio Camacho’s steady performances for Malaga over the last six seasons—displays which earned him a Spain cap in 2014—and think they let him go a little early.
After moving from Zaragoza in his early teens, Camacho broke into the team just short of his 18th birthday in May 2008 and promptly scored two goals in a win over Recreativo Huelva, but despite early promise he was never quite able to nail down a regular place under Javier Aguirre.
He was an unused substitute when Atletico beat Fulham in the 2010 Europa League final, but his career at the club was all but over, and he moved to Malaga halfway through the 2010/11 season.
He isn’t exactly a player who could have made the difference in La Liga or Champions League chases, but given the succession of central midfielders that the club have gone through in recent years fans could wonder what might have been.
Martin Demichelis
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“I know that I'm joining the best defence in the league, I hope we can keep that up. I will come here with a humble attitude and will contribute what I can. I hope it's a successful year for me and for the team.” And with that he was off.
As reported by the Daily Express, Martin Demichelis may have talked a good game upon arriving at Atletico in the summer of 2013, but he left the Spanish capital before he’d even kicked a ball for the club just a few weeks later, joining Manchester City on a more lucrative deal.
Demichelis was linking up with his former Malaga boss Manuel Pellegrini at City, and although he wasn’t universally a success there he did at least pick up a Premier League title, and he would have been a welcome addition to Diego Simeone’s plans.
Atletico didn’t seem to try hard enough to keep him, and he was quickly spirited away.
Toby Alderweireld
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Signed from Ajax after Demichelis had jumped ship to Manchester City, Toby Alderweireld was never really given much of a chance to impress in the Spanish capital, as he struggled to hold down a place and was swiftly moved on after just one season.
He managed 22 appearances in all competitions in 2013/14, before an impressive season on loan at Southampton resulted in a permanent move to Tottenham in the summer of 2015, and the Belgian went on to establish himself as one of the very best defenders in the Premier League as Spurs finished third in his first campaign at the club.
Calm on the ball and an excellent reader of the game, Alderweireld seemingly craves consistency, and that is now what he’s got at White Hart Lane under Mauricio Pochettino.
He could end up being a player that Atletico forever regret letting go.
