During the second half of last season, Atletico Madrid were the form team in LaLiga. Diego Simeone’s side struggled pre-World Cup, but they certainly made up for it later on in 2022/23.
Simeone opted for a 5-3-2 system for much of the last few months, and it certainly paid dividends, as Atletico came within a couple of minutes of overthrowing city rivals Real Madrid for second place.
Going forward, Simeone is expected to keep with this system, and according to Marca, this means that an additional central defender will be required in next season’s squad. Stefan Savic, Jose Maria Gimenez, Mario Hermoso and the incoming Caglar Soyuncu will be there, but one more is to be needed.
That could be Santiago Mourino, who will join Atletico this summer from Racing Club de Montevideo. Initially, the youngster was expected to be sent out on loan upon joining, but he could now be an important part of Simeone’s squad for the 2023/24 season.
Atletico Madrid will hope to carry on their excellent form from the back-end of 2022/23 to catapult themselves into next season’s title race, and Mourino could have a big role to play in them doing this.
