The defining rivalry of Diego Simeone's long time in charge of Atletico Madrid will be played out, in pre-season conditions, in New Jersey. It used to be that confrontations with Real Madrid were a gauge of how effectively Atletico had been galvanised under their determined manager. These days, a once lop-sided enmity can seem more like a trade convention of equals.
In this, Atletico’s most radical transfer window of the Simeone era - and it is an era: seven-and-a-half years under one manager makes Atletico by far the most stable employer of managers in elite European football - has thrown up a number of intriguing possibilities for the season ahead, and Real, the rivals, have frequently been on the other side of the negotiating table.
One such project: the continued pursuit of James Rodriguez, the playmaker who belongs to Real, and has been out on loan at Bayern Munich. Atletico are interested in a possible purchase, and ready to push their overall summer spending towards €300 million (Dh1.2 billion).
Among the new signings, so far brought in for nearly €250m all told, is another man hired directly from Real, Marcos Llorente. He cost around €30m, will add bite and energy to midfield, although Simeone hopes it will not be too much of the sort of bite that led to a rather inauspicious red card for Llorente during Wednesday’s game against Chivas Guadalajara in the International Champions Cup.
Llorente will be allowed to play against Real despite that sending-off. Meanwhile, Joao Felix, the most eye-catching of the new recruits, the Portuguese teenager on whom Atletico have staked a club record fee, hopes to have shaken off the hip injury that has disrupted his first few days in training with Atletico following his €120m move from Benfica.
Llorente is 24, the same age as Mario Hermoso, the defender signed from Espanyol for €25m. Renan Lodi, the Brazilian who describes himself as a left-back with a hearty appetite for forays into the opposition half and has joined from Athletico Paranaense for around €20m, is 21. Joao Felix turns 20 in November. There is a significant rejuvenation in Atletico’s changing of the guard.
For Simeone, that is a special challenge. His Atletico rose, after his appointment in late 2011, out of a decade-and-a-half of often chaotic underachievement thanks to a group of footballers who bought into his dogmas and, via two Champions League finals against Real and a standout Liga triumph in 2014, have set very high standards. Many of them, notably the defenders Diego Godin, Juanfran and Felipe Luis, left this summer; the essence of what made modern Atleti cannot help but seem diluted.
“We worked for a long time with people who had been immersed in this club,” acknowledged the coach, “so now it’s up to those who are still with us to show the new players the direction we move in at this club.” In that, he was signalling the leadership responsibilities of loyalists such as Koke and Saul Niguez in midfield, the striker Diego Costa, now in his third spell at Atletico, and Jose Maria Gimenez, the central defender.
The money that has suddenly pitched Atletico into the realm of very big spenders comes from the very significant sales of Antoine Griezmann, whose buyout clause of €120m was met by Barcelona earlier this month, and Lucas Hernandez, the France defender in whom Bayern Munich have invested close to €80m. Rodri, the Spain international central midfielder has joined Manchester City for around €70m. These are players who look back at their time under Simeone with gratitude; their development as thoroughbreds in their positions is also a strong counter-argument to the idea that Atletico's rise has been fuelled simply by high-octane ruggedness and one-dimensional counter-attacking.
Nonetheless, a strong identity, built around a playing style, is vital to Atletico. In their recruitment, traditional fortes have been respected. Take the signing of England’s Kieran Trippier from Tottenham Hotspur, to replace Juanfran at right-back. Trippier’s skill with a dead ball and his precise crossing heavily inform that decision.
Atletico’s set-piece strategies have always been a priority for Simeone’s coaching staff and they admired Trippier’s many decisive contributions via free-kicks and corners during England’s World Cup campaign last summer. There is a barely disguised expectation that Tripper crosses to the head of Alvaro Morata, the centre-forward, or Gimenez, the tall marauding centre-back, will be a productive feature of the new-look Atleti - a team with many fresh faces, but, Simeone hopes, the same aggression, craftiness, and unyielding spirit of old.
