Chelsea FC Transfer Rumors: Key Transfer Targets – Part 2
Jorge Resurrección Merodio (Koke)
My personal favourite player in the Spanish La Liga, the fact that he hasn’t garnered as much attention as many of his peers shows his willingness to sacrifice his personal ambition for the good of the team, an attribute instilled by Atletico Madrid’s boss Diego Simeone.
Having spent his whole career at Atletico Madrid, the 23-year old Spanish international started out playing as a wide attacking midfielder, but his all-action and combative style of play encouraged Diego Simeone to move him to left midfield position, leading to an increase in his defensive responsibilities, which he has taken to in his usual selfless style.
He is rated as strong in tackling, defensive contribution, key passes and through balls and very strong in taking set-pieces and crossing without any notable weaknesses by Whoscored which goes to show how multi-talented the youngster is. Like Pogba, he is equally adept at pinging accurate defense-splitting through balls and make crunching tackles and interceptions to win balls, which makes him ideal for Atletico Madrid’s constant pressing style.
His form for the club brought him to the attention of Spanish national team boss, Vicente Del Bosque, who gave him his debut in August 2013 and named him in his squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He has so far made just 16 appearances till date, largely due to the multitude of quality options available to Spain in midfield, but is expected to become a key part of the Spanish set-up in the future with Xavi expected to retire soon.
He has a 48 million pounds buy-out clause inserted in the contract he signed in 2014, which Chelsea FC would probably be willing to meet. But he recently reiterated his desire to remain at Atletico Madrid, stating that he is 100% sure he will be at the club next season. And Atletico Madrid have made moves to secure him for the long term by trying to renegotiate his contract in a bid to push up his buy-out clause closer to 100 million pounds, making it almost impossible for him to leave.
Next: Raphaël Varane