Lucas Hernández: Simeone coins the cantera to the tune of €188m
The sale of the defender to Bayern Munich is the highest fee for an academy player but the Argentinean has added €100m with nine other transfers.
Diego Simeone has achieved many things Atlético fans would not have thought possible a decade ago, winning a Liga title, a Europa League and reaching two Champions League finals.
But the Argentinean has also proved astute at filling the coffers at the Calderón and the Metropolitano; in his seven years in charge of the side, the Argentinean has cashed in on his academy graduates to the tune of 188 million euros.
The sale of Lucas Hernández to Bayern Munich on Wednesday for €80m was the highest fee received by far, the France defender not only becoming the Bundesliga’s most expensive signing of all time, but also the world’s most expensive defender.
Lucas’ brother, Theo, also earned Atlético a sizeable fee when he moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2017 for €28m, a windfall that would prove Simeone and his staff correct in their decision with the younger Hernández now on loan at Real Sociedad.
Torres leads the way for the non-Hernández deals
After the two Hernández transfers comes Óliver Torres, who initially moved to Porto for a successful loan spell in 2014 after coming through the ranks as one of Atlético’s brightest prospects, before joining the Portuguese giants on a permanent basis for €20m halfway through a second loan in 2016-17.
Other players to have been moved on during Simeone’s tenure include Borja Bastón (Swansea, €18m), Mario Suárez (Fiorentina, €15m), Rubén Pérez (Granada, €2m) Álvaro Domínguez (Borussia Mönchangladbach, €8m), Joel Robles (Everton, €4m) and Javier Manquillo, (Liverpool, €2m loan fee, Newcastle, €5m permanent transfer).