Atletico Madrid don’t usually make mistakes in the transfer market when it comes to attackers.
The Spanish giants have a knack for just getting it right.
They nailed it with Diego Forlan. Sergio Aguero was an inspired gamble all those years ago. There was Radamel Falcao, David Villa, Luis Suarez, Diego Costa, Alvarao Morata and, of course, Antoine Griezmann.
No matter what stage of their career the player was at, the capital-based club just seemed to know the secret to make it work. Risks, more often than not, paid off.
There have, of course, been exceptions. Jackson Martinez was one of those. A goal machine for FC Porto, the Colombian struggled to adapt to the style of play utilised by Diego Simeone and he didn’t last long with the club.
The successes significantly outweigh the failures.
But the summer of 2024 could put a serious dent in the success column.
Atleti wanted to revamp their attack. They went big on two players; Alexander Sorloth and Julian Alvarez. The duo moved to the Metropolitano Stadium for a combined €127million.
Sorloth has four goals in 12 La Liga appearances this term. The 28-year-old is either brilliant for teams or abysmal. His career has been consistent in the sense his good form usually convinces a team to spend big on him and then he struggles. He’s flopped with Crystal Palace and RB Leipzig but excelled with Villarreal, Midtjylland and Trabzonspor.
His 23-goal haul for Villarreal convinced Atleti to move for him. If the pattern is followed, he’ll likely struggle this season. But let's just see how it pans out.
Alvarez made the move from Manchester City as he wanted to be the main man in attack rather than being in the shadow of Erling Haaland. So far, not so good. The World Cup winner has just three goals in the Spanish top flight and has started just eight games for Simeone’s side.
To bring this duo in, Atletico Madrid sacrificed an exciting talent in Samu Omorodion.
The 20-year-old was only with the club for 12 months, and during this time he wasn’t really an Atleti player. He spent the season on loan with Alaves following his move from Granada.
Omorodion had a successful campaign, scoring eight times as Alaves claimed a 10th-placed finish in La Liga. The expectation was that the powerful centre-forward had done enough to earn a place in Simeone’s plans for the upcoming campaign.
That, alas, was not the case.
The striker was shopped around as Atleti looked to raise funds for their attacking rebuild. A deal with Chelsea collapsed at the last minute and Porto swooped in. The Portuguese side needed offensive reinforcements after losing Evanilson to Bournemouth and Mehdi Taremi to Inter.
Whereas Sorloth and Alvarez are both struggling with their new club, Omorodion has settled into life quickly in Portugal.
He has as many league goals (seven) for Vitor Bruno’s side as Sorloth and Alvarez do for Atletico. His goalscoring exploits have seen him become the first Porto player since Tiquinho Soares in 2017 to score three or more goals in his first three league matches.
Omorodion has also been prolific for Porto in the Europa League. He’s scored in all three appearances, finding the back of the net against Bodo/Glimt, Manchester United (twice) and Hoffenheim.
In total, the Spain under-21 international has 11 goals in 736 minutes for the Dragons.
By comparison, Atleti, as a team, have just 12 goals in La Liga and have found the back of the net on just three occasions across their Champions League campaign so far.
The decision to part with Omorodion feels like a rare misstep by Simeone and the club hierarchy. Still, it worked out for the one-time Granada youngster. And, the club could salvage something with the striker having a release clause of €100million.
Atleti inserted a 50% sell-on clause in the deal and with a queue of admirers lining up for the prolific forward, they could be set for a cash windfall in the near future.
Samu Omorodion 
