Diego Simeone’s miracle at Atlético Madrid
Since Simeone’s first summer in 2012, Atlético is the 52nd team for investment in transfers, according to Transfermarkt.
Atlético Madrid have gone into another dimension with Diego Simeone. A team established in Europe’s amongst Europe’s elite, accustomed to competing among the best and one that has qualified for the Champions League for the tenth season in a row. Twice champion of La Liga under Simeone, Atlético have also reached the Champions League final twice, featured in three semi-finals and in six of the nine campaigns the club have been among the eight best teams of the tournament, including in 2021-22.
Atlético have invested in significant transfers for Simeone, with 19 of most expensive signings in the club’s history taking place since the Argentine took over. According to the statistics of website Transfermarkt, since the summer of 2012, Simeone’s first, Atlético are 52nd for spending on players.
The data places Atlético with an investment of €1.06 billion, tenth in spending over the last decade, after Manchester City (€1.67), Juventus (1.53), Chelsea (1.49), Barcelona (1.48), Manchester United (1.44), PSG (1.41), Real Madrid (1.13), Liverpool (1.11) and Arsenal (1.11).
However, Atleti occupy fifth position in revenue (€969.7 million), a figure only surpassed by Benfica (€1.13 billion), Monaco (1.09), Chelsea (1. 06) and Juventus (1.03). Atlético’s balance would stand at a total expense slightly less than €100 million.
Atlético Madrid summer signings
Axel Witsel has joined the club as a free agent as well as winger Samuel Lino (€6.5 million). These are the only signings that Atlético have announced so far this summer. The pandemic has affected Spanish clubs and the differences with England are increasingly enormous.
English sides dominate
Twenty-two teams between the Premier League and the Championship have spent more than Atlético in during the Simeone period: Manchester United (the most), City (2nd), Arsenal (4th), Chelsea (8th), Liverpool (9th), West Ham (10th), Newcastle (12th), Aston Villa (13th), Tottenham (14th), Everton (16th), Wolverhampton (18th), Leicester (19th), Crystal Palace (22nd), Brighton (23rd), Leeds (27th), Fulham (28th), Stoke City (33rd), West Bromwich (38th), Southampton (44th), Watford (45th), Sheffield (49th) and Bournemouth (51st).
As for LaLiga, Barcelona top the list of clubs with the most spending in this period, exceeding €500 million, which places the club in fifth place overall. Real Madrid is in 20th place (about €230 million). PSG are third, AC Milan (seventh) and Bayern (eleventh). In the Champions League, it has become clear that these enormous outlays are not always synonymous with success and Atlético have been a handful for Premier teams in the competition.