Llorente, an infinite growth

Marcos Llorente has no roof. The 26-year-old midfielder continues to reinvent himself day by day and his work is paying off. Undisputed holder for Simeone, the ‘14’ has re-entered the list of the Luis Enrique Selection after debuting on November 11 and wants to be in the next European Championship.

For this, their numbers speak for themselves. A wild card for Simeone, who has used him as Arriving midfielder, his ideal position, inside right, second forward, point, pivot, right lane, side … always with a remarkable performance. So much so that it is an assist from what, using a basketball term, could be defined as double-double. Llorente has 10 goals, nine of them in the League and one in the Champions League and nine assists, eight in the domestic competition and one in the European, to have participated in a defining way in 19 goals, something unthinkable when he arrived at Atlético.

Signed from Real Madrid as a pivot, bringing him closer to the area has been Simeone's greatest triumph, finding a colossal offensive player that probably not even Llorente himself knew existed. If his performance has not gone unnoticed by the national coach, he has not done it for his football price either. According to the specialized website Transfermarkt, Marcos Llorente has gone from being worth 50 million in January to 70 in March, a figure that in LaLiga only exceeds Oblak (€ 90M), the most sought-after in the competition, João Félix (down from 100 to 80), Messi (80), Ansu Fati (80), De Jong (80), Ter Stegen (75) and Courtois (75 ).

All of them players or consecrated or with a huge future ahead, but where Llorente's jump has been shocking and unsuspected. Looking back the ‘14’ came to a halt due to the pandemic in April 2020 with a declining price, which placed it at 16 million in value. That is, in a year it is close to five times its value, going from 16 million to 70. A player who after Anfield night has uncovered and has had one of the most brutal growths in LaLiga and in the world of football.