Geoffrey Kondogbia has had to quickly adapt to Simeone's plan at Atlético. International midfielder for the Central African Republic He arrived at the rojiblanco club in November, with the competition already filmed after the extra month to sign awarded by LaLiga to the mattress team after the payment of the Thomas clause (50 million) the last market day by Arsenal.
Atlético hurried dates and took advantage of their opportunity, in a market restricted to the Spanish competition itself, to get the services of the then Valencia player. And, with Simeone, every footballer needs a period of adaptation to become the technician's script. Kondogbia debuted as rojiblanco as soon as he arrived at the team, on November 7 against Cádiz on matchday 9 (seven for Atleti), but without being able to be registered in Champions until January. With the new Cholo system, the Frenchman's entry into the pivot allowed Koke to raise his position and having a very physical squire behind with a lot of recovery capacity.
If this season closed with the league title, Atlético established a very offensive ideal midfield, formed by Koke as a pivot, with Llorente and Lemar in front, Kondogbia became, together with Saúl, the first option from the bench, outperforming Torreira (whose continuity seems unlikely) and at a Herrera which was chaining physical problems after a great start to the course and another rebound in April. Although it has not been usual to see Kondogbia starting in the eleven, It has been the best resource for Simeone when it comes to closing tight matches, introducing a player with a long stride who also enhances the passing game.
The pivot took advantage of his opportunities and He left very good performances against Celta and Elche in the only two games he has completed in the league as an Atlético, having his role in the achievement of the tournament. And, facing the next course, he promises to fight. Kondogbia ended the friendlies with his team and now he is on vacation before joining his first preseason in charge of Profe Ortega. At 28 years old, in full football maturity, he will be one of the few members of the squad who enjoys a good rest period.
Kondogbia statistics this season.
Besoccer
Atlético is the LaLiga team with the most internationals cited to play the Eurocup and the Copa América (Koke, Llorente, João Félix, Carrasco, Lemar, Trippier, Vrsaljko, Luis Suárez, Torreira, Giménez, Lodi, Felipe and Correa), to Hector Herrera is expected in the Gold Cup and only Oblak, Grbic, Savic, Hermoso, Saúl, Vitolo and Dembélé, in addition to Kondogbia himself, are currently not competing. On July 7, the preseason will begin, although the last three may not continue in the squad, and the internationals will join as they have finished their tournaments. Kondogbia will rest, regain strength and will have the opportunity to earn more minutes from day one on equal terms with his teammates. In the league title he participated in 27 games, although he stayed in 771 minutes, and it may be one of Atlético's quality leaps for the next season.