De Paul becomes essential

Since Simeone retired, Atlético did not have a footballer as Simeone as Rodrigo de Paul. It is a mirror of the Cholo player. He does not give a ball for lost, he leaves his soul in tatters. Central midfielder, Argentine, 1.80, 27 years old. The piece that rounds off an Atleti and a champion. Press, retrieve and circulate the ball. And he is one of those footballers, also, capable of getting muddy up to his eyebrows, canchero. Nobody won more duels (12) or received more fouls (5) than De Paul against Betis. At last, Tiago’s ‘5’ has a worthy heir. At the height of the Portuguese.

The first thing De Paul remembers about football is the hand of his grandfather, Osvaldo, who was taking him. His mother worked, she couldn’t. The name of his grandfather, who died in 2009, has a privileged place in his ink body: one of his wrists, the one that kisses every time he scores a goal. 43 have been in his career, in his time at Racing (2012-2014), Valencia (2014-2016) and Udinese (2016-2021). The one that started at the Deportivo Belgrano de Sarandí club as a goalkeeper.

Goalkeeper, forward, winger

Soon he got tired of the balls, he chose to throw them. He played as a forward before delaying his position, becoming a winger first, now at ‘5’. Perhaps that is the secret of his mastery of all facets, football from all its angles. The order, the shot; shelter, circulation with and without the ball. Miguel Ángel Mico, one of the coaches of the lower Racing teams who was at the beginning, drew it that way in an interview. “We saw him with the children’s soccer team. He was nine years old. He was a jewel of the ’94 class. And we laughed because he got angry with the teammates who got angry because he did not come down to help remove the ball. Sight What things are, now has a crazy display“, he laughed.

A deployment to which Cholo himself has surrendered. De Paul’s military has been shorter than that of Griezmann or João in his day. De Paul cannot play alone at times. He was born to play for Atleti and must always be in the field, imparting cholismo. With quality, remove and pass. With the ball, break lines. Without it, he displays physical and trade. Sum, in all sum. Last season in Italy, in Udinese, he was the player who won the most duels (289), tried the most dribbles (182) and caused the most fouls (126) in Serie A. The 40 million that Atlético paid for him in the summer, to this day, they seem few. De Paul is an invaluable midfielder. At the exact point of maturation.