Llorente: “I was very clear that I had to leave Real Madrid”

Marcos Llorente did not hesitate to take his last step. The Spaniard received the offer from Atlético while at Real Madrid and going to the rival was not a trauma. As he acknowledges in an interview with the Club del Deportista, Llorente dyed his shirt with the rojiblancas stripes without hesitation.

“I was very clear that I had to leave Real Madrid and when Atleti's offer arrived I did not hesitate. Things are going very well and I feel very happy about it,” he says. The reason, as he drops, was the lack of minutes at the Santiago Bernabéu. “When a player has minutes, he grows, he gets better and that's what is happening to me now,” he adds just before the derby against Real Madrid this Saturday at 9:00 p.m.

Although with Real Madrid he won the Champions League, two World Cups, a European Super Cup and one in Spain, for him, his best night was with Atlético de Madrid at Anfield. “The best night of my career. It was my best game, for all that it entails: beating Liverpool at Anfield, going through the tie against the European champion … Between all of us, with all the work and the team's struggle, we managed to move it forward, “he says.

For his evolution he considers Diego Pablo Simeone key, who has removed him from the position of 'five' to prove himself as a forward. “If you tell me a year ago, I'll tell you that you're crazy. I've been a midfielder for most of my life, as well as defensive. The coach made me see it a long time ago, he told me that one day he would take me higher, that he believed that there he could give things to the team. And well, that's how it came about at Anfield, and after quarantine I also played up there, “he admits surprised.

A 'Llorente' with a lot of history in Spanish sport who recognizes that it does not weigh him down, on the contrary, he is proud. The last step has been to show him off in the National Team, what he considers “a dream come true.” “It is a goal that you always have there, even if you do not think about it much, and it has come to me at a very good time in my career. I will always remember the day of the call and the day of the debut. But the important thing is not only to arrive, but stay and that is achieved by working, working and working, “he says, in addition to praising Luis Enrique's work. “He has a very clear idea of ​​what he wants and is forming a team with many alternatives to achieve it,” he explains about the coach.