Atletico Madrid have reinvented themselves – CEO

Atletico Madrid have had to ‘reinvent themselves’ this summer following wholesale changes to their squad, their CEO has said.

Miguel Angel Gil Marin was speaking following a transfer window which saw a series of star players – including Antoine Griezmann, Diego Godin, Lucas Hernandez and Rodri – exit the club.

Juanfran Torres and Filipe Luis were other experienced players to exit Los Rojiblancos, while €126m record signing Joao Felix led a series of replacements, including Kieran Trippier, Renan Lodi, Felipe Monteiro, Mario Hermoso and Marcos Llorente.

“The departures of Lucas, Griezmann and Rodrigo forced us to take very risky decisions and we have suffered because of the release clauses,” Gil Marin explained at the World Football Summit.

“All in all we've had to change nine out of 20 players, which is not easy. We've had to reinvent ourselves.

“We have completed a generational change and the team has not been hindered by it, thanks to the work done by our Coach (Diego) Simeone.

“Our revenue in the past 10 years has gone from €100m to €500m and we have concentrated that on the changing room. It was a very risky strategy but we have gone from being 23rd to second in the UEFA ranking.

“We have sought balance to grow in sporting and social aspects and we have won nine titles in nine years.

“We have lost some finals but that has helped us grow and put us on the map in areas where we were not known.”

Atleti won their opening three matches of the current La Liga campaign but their start has been derailed subsequently with a 2-0 defeat at Real Sociedad and scoreless draw against Celta Vigo.

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