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What's the story?
Atletico Madrid have sealed the signing of 24-year-old defensive midfielder Marcos Llorente from rivals Real Madrid for a fee of €40 million.
Zinedine Zidane made it clear to Llorente that he was not part of his plans and that the Madrid academy product was free to leave this summer.
In case you didn't know...
With Rodri's move to Manchester City gathering steam, Diego Simeone's side have acted quickly and secured a replacement for the Spaniard.
Llorente joined Real's academy in 2008 and made his senior debut for the club in 2015/16. He then joined Alaves on loan in 2016/17 and enjoyed a fairly successful spell time at El Glorioso before returning to his parent club.
Madrid tried to drive Llorente's price up by offering him to several Premier League clubs, but once the midfielder learned about Los Rojiblancos' interest, he prioritized a move to the Wanda Metropolitano given the fact that he won't have to uproot his family if he joined his parent clubs crosstown rivals.
Atleti are ambitious and have been flexing their financial muscle in the transfer market as well, trying to assemble a squad that can break Barcelona's monopoly on the La Liga crown.
The heart of the matter
Atletico Madrid confirmed the signing on their Twitter account and said that the midfielder will complete his move pending medical tests.
Llorente will sign a five-year contract with Atleti and is expected to slot right into the first eleven.
Although not identical to the man he's replacing, Llorente is a manager's dream and is expected to flourish under Simeone's tutelage due to the exciting mix of attributes he possesses.
Tactically astute, incredibly hardworking, technically sound and someone who possesses the fitness levels required to play for a Simeone team, the signing of a system-specific player like Llorente for a system-oriented team like Atleti makes a lot of sense.
What's next?
With Griezmann set to leave and Rodri, Simeone's side are expected to spend handsomely in the transfer window and it'll be interesting to see how the squad shapes up ahead of the upcoming campaign.
