Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Jorge Castillo, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.19
A mark of 8.19 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Bri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Jorge Castillo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aleksa Purić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlético Madrileño the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jano Monserrate did not need any: 7.81, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Juan Musso and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Diego Bri falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A 1‑0 win over Juventud Torremolinos, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Marked 8.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Atlético Madrileño.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Fernando Gómez kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Adrián Corral
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Bri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Javier Boñar has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Atlético Madrileño will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Jano Monserrate is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
The dugoutJavi Serrano asks for a word with the manager
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlético Madrileño they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Juan Musso and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Diego Bri falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Real Murcia? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Carlos Giménez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Javi Serrano a promise
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilias Kostis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rayane Belaid signs something — a contract at Atlético Madrileño or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Madrileño, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilias Kostis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.47 on the card, and the Atlético Madrileño support went home talking about one name.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Fernando Gómez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Atlético Madrileño dressing room was either.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Javier Boñar and Atlético Madrileño agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Ilias Kostis was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Fernando Gómez chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dani Martínez is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Rafa Llorente and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
0‑1 to Cartagena, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Ilias Kostis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Fernando Gómez left the room before anybody could ask which.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Atlético Madrileño know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Rafa Llorente was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match3 Apr 2027
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Atlético Madrileño. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Marked 8.24 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Ilias Kostis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Fernando Gómez could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutSalvi Esquivel dropped after a run of poor form
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Iker Luque
Rafa Llorente was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
8.07. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
He went out to keep goal every week and came back with 0 games and 0 of them shut out. Somebody at Atlético Madrileño argued for this move last summer; nobody is arguing for it now.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Dani Martínez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Madrileño this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilias Kostis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Fernando Gómez to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
0 appearances, 0 clean sheets, and a goalkeeper no further forward than the day he left. Whether that belongs to him, to the club that borrowed him or to the people who arranged it is the argument Atlético Madrileño will have this month.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Atlético Madrileño told Adrián Corral something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Real Murcia were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rafa Llorente. 1‑0 against Real Murcia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Ilias Kostis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Madrileño, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rayane Belaid signs something — a contract at Atlético Madrileño or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Madrileño this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Fernando Gómez after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
SquadDani Martínez falls out with a teammate over standards
Jorge Castillo, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.94
A mark of 7.94 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlético Madrileño can pretend not to have heard.
Ilias Kostis was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gerónimo Spina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Arnau Ortiz had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Rafa Llorente and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atlético Madrileño has to find a result from somewhere.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Purić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Madrileño this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.05 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Fernando Gómez after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilias Kostis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It needed Arnau Ortiz to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Juventud Torremolinos, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rafa Llorente and Atlético Madrileño agree another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Aleksa Purić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Fernando Gómez after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Javi Morcillo
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlético Madrileño lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge Castillo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Arnau Ortiz was the best thing in any of them.
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Arnau Ortiz has let it be known that he does not like the way Atlético Madrileño are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlético Madrileño lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Rafa Llorente and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Arnau Ortiz. 1‑0 against Sanluqueño, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Purić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Eldense next, and one man in the Atlético Madrileño dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Chances created: 7. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Alejandro Mestanza did not need any: 8.11, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Javier Boñar is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Hércules defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The words a physio says slowly. 92 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Atlético Madrileño can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Purić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Fernando Gómez chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Antequera? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The words a physio says slowly. 99 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rayane Belaid is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Madrileño this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlético Madrileño lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 30. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Purić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Atlético Madrileño is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlético Madrileño lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Rafa Llorente and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Marked 7.33 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Atlético Madrileño had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Fernando Gómez chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dani Martínez is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
123 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlético Madrileño lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jorge Castillo did not need any: 8.08, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Rafa Llorente was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Arnau Ortiz signs something — a contract at Atlético Madrileño or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Atlético Madrileño people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The bid was some way short and Atlético Madrileño did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Aleksa Purić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The offer from Oviedo for Javi Serrano was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Madrileño this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Pontevedra waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Atlético Madrileño is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Rafa Llorente was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Purić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Carlos Giménez are not good
The offer from Pontevedra for Marcos Parriego was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlético Madrileño this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Arnau Ortiz and Atlético Madrileño agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Rafa Llorente and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Arnau Ortiz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Atlético Madrileño, another week without a signature from Javi Serrano.
The name of Mario De Luis has come up in conversations Atlético Madrileño were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Carlos Giménez and Atlético Madrileño agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Purić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlético Madrileño, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Still no offer on the table, and Carlos Giménez’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.