With the departure of Raúl García, not only did Atlético Madrid lose a wonderful player, and an even better person, but a captain as well.
Since then, the club hasn’t announced who the replacement captain would be. The press speculated that it would be Koke, but no official confirmation was given.
So who could join Gabi and Diego Godín as captain? Tiago? Koke? Juanfran? Fernando Torres?
Tiago was one of our captains during the 2013/14 season. However, after his brief flirtation with Chelsea, he lost his captaincy.
He’s a natural leader and a definite starter for Cholo. But if he was stripped of his captaincy, it was definitely done so for a reason.
Koke has worn the captain’s armband in a few matches in his career so far, but is the 23-year-old midfielder the right man? His presence on the pitch is a must for Atleti, but his leadership skills are yet to be seen.
Juanfran has never captained Atleti despite being a part of the team since 2011. His locker room presence, alongside his performance on the pitch, makes him a good shout for the vacant spot.
Fernando ‘El Niño’ Torres is another option. After his ‘Erasmus’ in England and Italy, Torres returned to Atlético Madrid as a man. He was captain back in 2003, but that team can’t be compared to today’s Atleti.
However, his locker room presence is massive, and he’s an inspiration to ‘canteranos’ everywhere.
Another question that can be brought up is: does the team need a third captain?
With so many options, maybe the vacant spot will be alternated. Without an official confirmation, everything will be pure speculation.
For the time being, the third captain is a mystery, but whoever wears the armband will hopefully captain the team to Neptuno.