"Ilias (Kostis) did well in pre-season, Reinildo is improving a lot after the injury he had. Le Normand can also play as a left-footed centre-back or Azpilicueta and it is true that no other player has come in since Mario (Hermoso) left." These were the statements made by the Argentine coach when asked in the press room about the left-footed centre-back position.
At no point does he mention Santiago Mouriño , a footballer who arrived in the summer 2023 transfer market. Atlético de Madrid paid 3 million euros to acquire the services of the then Racing Club de Montevideo centre-back. His incorporation is for the future, the idea is that he will gain minutes in other teams and continue to develop until he is ready to make the leap to the first team.
He will most likely go out on loan
For all these reasons and because the reserve team is not enough for him, Mouriño is looking for a place in another team . Atlético does not want to get rid of the player by transferring, so it is most likely that he will go out on loan to a LALIGA club.
There are several suitors, but the one that is most likely to sign the Uruguayan centre-back is Getafe. The club, coached by José Bordalás, has been sounding out Mouriño all summer and may finally get the upper hand.
In terms of Atlético de Madrid, there are few teams that are better for a centre-back to develop as they are at Getafe. Bordalás fosters individual talent like few coaches in the European football scene. He is the MacGyver of coaching , as evidenced by, for example, the recent signings of Christantus Uche and Nabil Aberdin.
Other clubs are also interested
With the more than likely departures of Loïc Badé and Marcos Acuña, Sevilla want to continue fishing at Atlético de Madrid. First it was Saúl Ñíguez who joined the Sevillian club and now they want the Uruguayan to reinforce a depleted defence. Proof of this was the lack of reliability shown by Nemanja Gudelj and Tanguy Nianzou in the first match against UD Las Palmas.
We did not leave the Andalusian capital to go to another team interested in acquiring the services of Santiago Mouriño: Real Betis Balompié. For the same reasons as their city neighbours, with Marc Bartra, Diego Llorente and Natan, they are aware that they cannot compete in three competitions. They need to incorporate players and the Uruguayan fits in with the style that Manuel Pellegrini is looking for.
The last on the list would be Luis García Plaza's Deportivo Alavés . Perhaps they are the team with the least chances of signing a centre-back after the purchase of Moussa Diarra from Toulouse. It is true that the doubts with Nikola Maras and the departure of Rafa Marín to Napoli have hurt the team and they are looking for a reinforcement to consolidate the Babazorra defence.
