Thomas Lemar’ Achilles tendon injury against Valencia earlier this season has ruled the Frenchman out for the vast majority of the 2023-24 campaign. It left Diego Simeone somewhat light in the midfield department, and his options have depleted further this week, as Atletico Madrid announced that Pablo Barrios suffered a meniscal tear against Feyenoord.
Barrios will undergo surgery to rectify the issue, and is expected to miss the next six weeks at the very least. It means until then, Simeone will have to rely on Koke Resurreccion, Rodrigo De Paul, Marcos Llorente and Saul Niguez as his only midfield reinforcements.
Before Barrios’ injury, Atleti had already been linked with signing a midfielder during the winter transfer window, and Diario AS say that the current situation means that this is even more likely, although it remains to be seen what specific players are targeted.
Until January, Simeone could think outside the box with his midfield. Antoine Griezmann has played there on a couple of occasions in recent weeks, and this could be revived once again, while Samuel Lino could also operate there too.
It is certainly a very frustrating situation for Atletico Madrid, especially ahead of Sunday’s big match against Barcelona. However, don’t count out Simeone finding a way to make things work, as he has done on so many occasions over the last 12 years.
