Why Atletico Madrid have done the best transfer business this summer

This summer La Liga clubs have, so far, spent a total of just over £315m. So who do you think have splashed their cash the most? Real Madrid? Barcelona? Think again. Atletico Madrid have spent an incredible £88.2 million, that's over £50 million more than Barcelona and £20m more than Real Madrid.


They make up a staggering 27.97% of the entire La Liga expenditure. I know what you're thinking though, just because a club has spent the most money, does not necessarily mean that they have done the best business. That's absolutely correct. However in this case, Atletico haven't flitted away their money on average players (a la Tottenham Hotspur), they have secured players of exceptional quality and have comfortably done the best business in La Liga, maybe even the best in European football.
Atletico have always been known for the quality of their strikers, in recent years the Vicente Calderon has been the home of proven world class forwards such as Fernando Torres, Diego Forlan, Sergio Aguero, Falcao and Diego Costa. All of whom scored heaps of goals and terrified the life out of opposition defences. This year, the fear is back.

Firstly, they have spent £24.5m on a proven goalscorer in Jackson Martinez from Porto. The lethal Colombian scored a total of 92 goals in 133 appearances for the Portuguese giants and is well known throughout Europe as a genuine goal machine. Martinez will undoubtably add much needed pace and power to the Atletico attack. An absolute no brainer.

They have also secured Luciano Vietto from Villarreal, a player Diego Simeone knows from his time in Argentina with Racing Club, for just £14m. The 21-year-old is an extremely exciting prospect who was outstanding for Villarreal last season, scoring an impressive 18 goals in 40 appearances for 'The Yellow Submarine'. The Argentine can stretch teams with his pace and is a composed finisher but he can also drop off and link up the play, such is his technical ability.

Atletico Madrid will go into the new season primed with four top quality strikers in Fernando Torres, Antoine Griezmann, Luciano Vietto and Jackson Martinez. That is quite a strike force.
They have also strengthened the their midfield with the addition of Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, adding some much needed creativity and pace after the departure of Arda Turan to Barcelona. The Belgian winger finished last season with 10 assists in 36 games, thats more than Eden Hazard, Gareth Bale or Neymar could manage.

Additions

In defence, Diego Simeone has lured back Felipe Luis from his nightmare at Chelsea and will hope he can replicate his form from 2013/14, when Atletico won La Liga. Stefan Savic has also been brought in, as part of the deal that saw Mario Suarez join Fiorentina, to add some depth to the centre of defence and provide competition to the excellent pairing of José María Giménez and Diego Godin.
In their only other notable transfer, Bernard Mensah was brought in from Vitória Guimarães for £7m and was immediately loaned to Getafe for next season. The Ghanian youngster has real potential and can both create and score goals from a central position but is still a raw talent, it will be interesting to see how he adapts to Spanish football over the coming season. There's also strong speculation that we'll see deep lying playmaker Matías Kranevitter arrive from River Plate but that deal is yet to be concluded.

With Barcelona having problems with squad depth and Real Madrid already putting pressure on Rafa Benitez for his tactical approach, could 'Cholo' lead Atletico to the league title once again? Well they have clearly done some great business this summer and if their signings can settle in quickly, they have got a great chance.