Atlético faces a summer with little movement in the transfer market and where barter will be the formula studied to strengthen. If you do not expect many arrivals, nor departures, something that contrasts with what was experienced a year ago. A right back, since there are three (Trippier, Arias and Vrsaljko) and a left-wing player, with Carrasco, Vitolo and Lemar, they are the positions where there is the greatest surplus.
If in the case of the Belgian one works to extend his transfer one more season, with the negotiations close to reaching a good port after the great level shown by Carrasco on the return of the break due to the coronavirus health crisis, Between the Canary Islands and the French, Vitolo has been gaining more and more weight while Lemar is practically the last option. The '20' has been favored by the five changes allowed after the break and had participation in the last six league games, where Atlético achieved the objective of qualifying for the next Champions League and also make it third.
Simeone has highlighted Vitolo's effort and growth during practically all its last public appearances. Assiduously entering a position closer to the rival area, as second striker, Cholo seeks to take advantage of his game from behind to exit the team and be able to run when there are meters ahead, in addition to freeing him from having to turn to help the side as when he plays in band. Thus he had six minutes at the Camp Nou against Barcelona, 35 against Mallorca, 22 against Celta, 35 in the match against Betis and 13 in Getafe, until he had prize on the last league game entering the eleven against Real Sociedad, where the tie secured third place.
Vitolo has been taking advantage of his minutes to enter Simeone's plans more and more assiduously. If he was not in San Mamés due to muscle discomfort and saw the entire match against Osasuna from the bench, his entry against Valladolid was capital, scoring the winning goal with a header that slipped into Caro's goal before the rear came to clear the shipment. His third goal of the season and all of them to beat by the minimum, in Butarque (0-1), against Eibar (3-2) on the second and third day and against the pucelano team.
He would also assist Thomas to sentence the victory against Getafe and would leave a great defensive performance against Betis, something that Cholo liked very much. The canary entered to stand up next to Costa in search of the winning goal, but Hermoso's red card forced him to move to the right wing, constantly helping Arias and forcing fouls to stop the game when the verdiblancos tightened.
But, while Vitolo adds minutes, Lemar loses them. The French played 28 minutes between those last six days. Neither the five changes, nor being available in all parties has served to increase its prominence. Unlike Vitolo, Lemar started counting in San Mamés with 27 minutes and entered as a starter later against Valladolid, but continues without taking the step forward. It totals more than a year without marking or attending and its total annual cost is around 26.4 million, so until 2023 it would still have to be dedicated 79 million more. Atlético is aware that recovering the 70 million invested by him is an impossible mission, since between his low performance and the economic crisis there will be no offers of such caliber.
Vitolo and Lemar are respectively sixteenth and nineteenth on the list of minutes played this season (1,483 the Canary and 1,147 the French). However, the return of the break has served to reinforce the first, now an asset among the five changes and practically sentence the second, that in six of the eleven games he spent 90 minutes on the bench. The Champions League may be the last bullet of the two to earn its continuity, but Vitolo has earned many points to be placed above the scale of relevance over Lemar.
Carrasco, back in style
While Vitolo and Lemar fight to add more minutes from the bench, Yannick Carrasco He arrived in January with the clear intention of taking a place in the starting lineup. If inactivity was noticed in his first matches, after go months without competing in the Chinese Dalian Yifang, Since the return of the competition after the break due to the coronavirus health crisis, he has been one of the players more in shape Of the template.
Carrasco has been a starter in five games and in the other six he started off the bench, always becoming a shaker. What the Cholo asked, to pay every minute as if it were the last. Unbalanced, powerful on the run and very incisive, the Belgian scored the goal of the sentence against Osasuna, caused two penalties at the Camp Nou that would end up turning Saúl and put a magnificent center for Costa's goal that mathematically classified Atlético for Champions against Betis. Cholo wants to continue counting on the 26-year-old, Carrasco wants to continue and the agreement with the Dalian is every time closest to extend his loan at least one more season.