Manu Sánchez will be in charge of give the relief to Renan Lodi when Cholo deems it appropriate. The Madrid footballer earned the coach's trust during his appearances last season, mainly after the stoppage due to the coronavirus health crisis, and in principle it will have the role of giving rest to the Brazilian on the left side before the accumulation of games, although he will fight in each training to steal minutes.
Although Caio Henrique's return to the club in summer after three assignments it caused the continuity of Manu Sánchez to be in the air, reaching practically close its assignment to Osasuna, the transfer of the Brazilian to Monaco retained him in the squad. The idea was to find a loan to a First team so that they was blanking, but now you will have to always be prepared for any absence from Lodi. Thus, Manu Sánchez has remained in the Atlético first team with full rights and since this season he has been wearing a heavy number: the '3' that Filipe Luis released in 2019 when he finally said goodbye to the team.
First from Thomas
A responsibility and a privilege that the 20-year-old wants to take advantage of. And it is that with his definitive promotion to the first team, Manu Sánchez has become the first player from the quarry with a record in Simeone's squad since 2015, when Thomas returned from his assignment to Almería to stay under Simeone's command. Five years since the Ghanaian put on the shirt with the '22' on his back while the debutants have multiplied from the quarry with Atlético: Nacho Monsalve, Caio Henrique, Rober, Juan Moreno, Olabe, Keidi, Sergi, Toni Moya, Montoro, Carlos Isaac, Arona, Sergio Camello, Solano, Joaquín, Mollejo, Montero, Borja Garcés, Riquelme, Darío Poveda, Manu Sánchez, Germán Valera and Óscar Clemente, but only the left-back has taken a chip with the elders (although footballers like Mollejo or Riquelme could do it in the return of their assignments).
Last season Manu participated in five league games and one cup game for a total of 446 minutes. During the summer renewed his contract until 2025, making it clear that he is one of the great values of Atlético looking to the future. With the departure of Thomas himself, together with that of Caio Henrique or Lucas Hernández's one year ago, Manu will be in charge of accompanying the classics Koke and Saul as representatives of the mattress quarry. In the last two summers they also said goodbye Rodrigo and Morata, debutants in First with other teams but also raised during some stage in the rojiblanca house. In times of economic hardship, quarry is the lifeline for the clubs and Atlético will have, after a long time, one of his young values in the first template.