Atletico Madrid have inked their influential midfielder Koke, real name Jorge Resurreccion, to a new long-term contract that expires in 2019. Koke was a vital cog in Atletico's wheel last season and this piece of business was seen as imperative if they were to continue their upward trend in Spanish and European football.
Atletico Madrid's title-winning season was always going to result in both positive and negative consequences. The negatives being that bigger clubs have come looking for their star players. Diego Costa looks set to join Chelsea while Thibaut Courtois could be heading back to his parent club, also Chelsea. Left-back Filipe Luis has also been linked with a summer move, along with centre-back Miranda, while David Villa has packed his bags for New York City.
It could be said that while Costa and Courtois were pivotal at either end of the field for Atletico last season, Koke was the man in the middle who held everything together. While not a traditional attacking midfielder, he is certainly capable of filling that role with his precise passing and eye for a through ball. He created 67 chances for teammates during last year's campaign, while also finding the net six times and adding 14 assists to his impressive list of statistics, despite Atletico playing defensively at times.
Koke's ability to hold and circulate the ball did not go unnoticed, and his nimble yet physical presence fits perfectly with what Diego Simeone requires of him. He had become the centre of several media reports linking him with teams like Barcelona and Manchester Unitet, but this new deal tells us where the Spanish midfielder's loyalties lie.
22-year-old Koke was on the verge of leaving the club where he has spent his entire professional career, prior to Simeone's arrival. He said of his development under the Argentinian coach: "The manager told me to trust in him, that I wouldn’t necessarily be a starter every week but to work hard because my opportunity would come. We believed in each other.”