Atletico Madrid finally have Memphis Depay fit and firing, but Diego Simeone is considering an alternative option up front for the coming weeks in order to give Antoine Griezmann a rest. The French forward has looked increasingly tired in recent weeks, struggling to hit the heights of earlier in the season, but his options to rotate are much slimmer with Alvaro Morata ruled out.
Angel Correa is the other alternative in Simeone’s ranks, but Diario AS say that Marcos Llorente could be an alternative option up front against Las Palmas and beyond as he looks to rest Griezmann. Simeone considered using him there in the 2019-20 season, and the following year used him as a box-to-box midfielder to great effect.
🚨👥 Today’s XI in training:
Oblak
Molina – Savic – Giménez – Reinildo – Lino
Koke – Barrios – Saúl
CORREA – LLORENTE
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) February 16, 2024
Los Rojiblancos turned down the chance to bring in Juventus forward Moise Kean on loan in the January transfer window, and it is something of a surprise that he is not trusting Correa more often in light of his desire to rotate. No doubt Llorente has the natural attributes to be a handful and create space for his partner, but it is an unorthodox experiment at this stage of the season.
