Thomas' departure to Arsenal has disrupted Simeone's plans for his midfield. The great desire of the technician went through certify the arrival of Lucas Torreira during the last market day in exchange for the departure of one of their secondary players from the squad (Lemar, Herrera and Vitolo in the shop window) beyond the assignments of Mollejo and Nehuen and the final transfer of Kalinic. It would thus have the possibility of placing a double pivot with Thomas and Torreira, freeing Saúl from the engine room.
However, the last day of the market began to go wrong since from England they pointed out that Arsenal was in a position to pay the Thomas clause (50 million), something that was put into practice during the afternoon and became official at night. A move that allowed Torreira to be registered, but at a much higher cost than expected. Now, without the Ghanaian, the third player with the most minutes last season, it will fall to the Uruguayan to be the stopper of the team, since there is no natural pivot in the template. Atlético still has a month to go to the market, but only in the Spanish competition, with a maximum expenditure of 12.5 million for those 50 million of the Thomas clause and against teams that could not look for a replacement if they decide to transfer their player, so there will be no facilities.
Lucas Torreira is a player who can fulfill this mission of acting as an anchor in the center of the field, although he is used to being with another positional midfielder at his side. At 24 years old, perfectly represents the Uruguayan claw: a footballer who puts his head, heart and soul if he can avoid a rival's shot. Joins like this to the charrúa spirit that Godín and Giménez have kept alive and to which this year Luis Suárez is also added. Torreira's style did not match the midfielder that Arteta was looking for for Arsenal, however he did become important in the English team.
In his first season after arriving from Sampdoria in exchange for 28 million, Torreira ended up playing 50 games with Arsenal, 32 of them as a starter for a total of 3,223 minutes. In the second his participation declined, with 39 games played, 23 as a starter, but always leaving everything on the field. Despite his short stature (1.68), Torreira is a very strong footballer in the melee, who is not daunted by any rival and with the ability to cover a lot of field.
But in addition to work, the Uruguayan also possesses good ball handling and arrival from the second row (at Arsenal he scored two goals per year). Not nearly as skilled as Thomas at long-distance or long-range shootingTorreira has a good footing and it is not surprising to see him being in charge of shooting the set piece. With the Uruguayan national team he has played 23 games, taking over the position of starter at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the summer in which he ended up signing for the gunners. It is common to see him acting as the vertex of a rhombus accompanied by other midfielders from the court of Fede Valverde or Vecino.
Simeone must reinvent himself
Atlético have lost their starting pivot in the last two years for the amount of his clause. First with Rodrigo's march to Manchester City (70 million) after only season back at the club, where he had left the quarry to end up making his debut in First with Villarreal and now with Thomas' farewell to Arsenal (€ 50M). The clauses established by Atlético are acceptable for the power of the Premier and Simeone is forced to reinvent himself once more in that position.
Saúl, with the ability to act as a midfielder, finds it difficult to be the footballer who gets the ball played from behind, and it doesn't seem like a good idea to keep delaying his position and losing his arrival. Llorente, signed to replace Rodrigo, has been uncovered like a hurricane playing on the wing or up front, too far from the pivot. Apparently this season more Koke will be seen in the middle, as already happened on the first match against Granada, to try to give the team more speed with the ball. The permanence of Herrera in the squad is another of the alternatives for CholoAlthough the level of the Mexican in his first rojiblanco course was not convincing.
The Argentine coach has also come to place Giménez in the pivot, although it is a more useful alternative to tie results, since with the ball it suffers. That of Thomas it's a new low sensitive which apparently will cause Torreira, who in principle was going to enter the team little by little accompanying the Ghanaian in the Atlético seat belt, must be capital from day one. What is clear is that his DNA fits perfectly with that of his new club and that of Cholo Simeone.