Breakout Atletico Madrid star Rodrigo Riquelme has admitted that he was close to leaving football altogether at the age of just 17, following negative experiences in the Atleti academy.
Riquelme, 23, returned to Los Rojiblancos this summer after three seasons being loaned out to gain experience at Bournemouth, Mirandes and most recently Girona, where he proved he could cut it in La Liga. After a steady start, Riquelme has been one of the most exciting players in La Liga this season, earning a call-up to the Spain squad for the first time.
"Playing with Grizi is very easy, he does everything well and I enjoy watching him. I don't think #Bellingham is better than him, Griezmann is more complete and right now I would put my neck on the line for him."
Rodrigo Riquelme on RadioMarca.#AtleticoMadrid #RealMadrid pic.twitter.com/DQDaADoHpJ
— Football España (@footballespana_) November 15, 2023
Riquelme was asked about what making his Atletico debut was a major deal for him, after overcoming adversity on his way to doing so.
“The day I made my debut was a real blast because I’ve come from a difficult time. The year I was playing for the under-19s (2017-19) I sat in the living room with my father and I told him that I didn’t want to continue playing because I wasn’t having fun anymore, and just the next day Pedro Pablo, the Atleti delegate, sent me a message to tell me that they wanted me to do the preseason with the first team. During that year there were certain people who treated me very badly,” he told RadioMarca.
Los Rojiblancos have struggled to bring through academy graduates under Diego Simeone, with Saul Niguez and Koke Resurreccion stretching out for nearly a decade as their most recent academy products in the first team. Yet the return of Riquelme and the progress of Pablo Barrios speak to an improvement in the production line at Atletico.
