Saponjic does not give up

The avant-garde is once again, as in every market window, current in Atlético. One of the names is that of Iván Saponjic, the 23-year-old Serbian striker who came to the rojiblanca discipline last summer. The Balkan had no options last year. He only played 64 minutes divided into three games. Less than expected, despite the fact that he arrived with the mission to learn next to Costa de Morata, being the third option. The reality is that he could not prove anything because there was no option even to do so, but that has not broken his will.

And that is strong, as could be guessed in the three times he has played with the rojiblanca. He went out for all in each of those 64 minutes, in which, only by will and illusion, he seemed to deserve some more. Simeone did not consider it that way, but Saponjic is not one to give up. He is not alien to his situation, but in his head there is only the illusion of proving himself to show that he can be an Atlético player. In fact, at this moment his thought is that.

Saponjic has parked, for the moment, the interest of teams such as Celtic in Scotland or Crystal Palace in England, waiting for that opportunity to arrive in the coming weeks, that game that can change his history at Atlético. Nearby you have examples of this. Costa himself, who went from being discarded by Simeone and having the ticket taken to go to Turkey to being Falcao's lieutenant and, later, becoming a red-and-white legend. His story changed in a preseason and Saponjic hopes the same. Will try.

Saponjic hasn't stopped training on vacation.

For starters, he wasted no time on vacation. When he returned to his native Serbia, he put himself in the hands of a personal physical trainer to arrive finer than ever in this preseason. And that, precisely, the physical part is where you cannot put a but. Saponjic also feels like an integrated part of the wardrobe. It is not only a heavyweight like Oblak who supports him, but also another like Saúl always has words and support for him.

During the month of January, Saponjic already managed interest from Spanish teams, but did not give up. For Atlético, the young forward is not a problem, quite the opposite. To begin with, he is overflowing with enthusiasm for playing as rojiblanco, something that at this moment seems to be lacking for other members of Simeone's squad in his same demarcation. In addition, unlike another third forward like Kalinic, the economic investment is very tight. By far the player with the most modest salary in the cast, as opposed to the Croatian who received almost ten times more. There are still days for the market to close, the competition is about to begin and Saponjic is only waiting for that match, that opportunity that can change his history at Atlético.