Atletico Madrid have signed Daniel Wass and Reinildo Mandava

(Football news) Atletico Madrid this season have been far from their flowing best as they have struggled to find consistency with a talented squad. The club have signed Daniel Wass and Reinildo Mandava in the January transfer window. The Los Rojiblancos lost Kieran Trippier to Newcastle United at the beginning of the month and are keen to bring in a suitable replacement as Wass has been the man to replace him. Reinildo, on the other hand, is viewed as a market opportunity as Atletico need some competition in the left back position. Wass’ contract with Valencia ends at the end of the season and Reinildo is in the same situation with Lille. Both players will join the squad in the upcoming days as a minimal fee is paid so that they can join the team immediately. 

Atlético conceded twice more at the weekend despite ultimately beating Valencia at the Wanda Metropolitano. Atleti have let in more goals this season (26) than all of last season (25), when they were league champions. They have not allowed more than 31 goals in any of Simeone’s nine full seasons in charge as their whole game was based on defensive stability but now they leaking plenty of goals. Reinildo’s arrival is particularly important given his defensive strength and he will instantly provide competition for attack-minded Renan Lodi, the only other natural left-back in Atlético’s squad. Šime Vrsaljko has been an adequate replacement since Kieran Trippier’s transfer to Newcastle as now Wass will  be considered as the first-choice right-back upon his arrival  even though he is a midfielder. With Wass’ arrival it will allow Simeone to ease his team back into a 4-4-2 formation following the struggles with evolving the 3-5-2 system that succeeded in 2020/21.

Reinildo Mandava (Beira, Mozambique, 28 years old), from Lille chosen as the best left-back in the French league after becoming champion last season, Reinildo has been a late-breaking player. At just 20 years old, he was recruited from Mozambican Maputo by Benfica for there although he never made his debut in the Lisbon first team. After several loans to Second Division clubs, he finally made his debut in the Portuguese league with Os Belenenses in the 2018-19 season. With only 19 games in the elite, Lille achieved his transfer in the winter market and ended up paying a transfer of three million euros at the end of that loan. At Lille he won the competition that was generated with Bradaric, more offensive profile, and noted as one of the great promises of Croatian football. In his 81 games with the northern team, Reinildo has not registered a single goal assist and has scored one.

Under the direction of Cristophe Galtier, Reinildo ended up exploding as a winger difficult to beat in speed, with tactical rigor to defend and to choose the moments in which to join the attack. “He is a player who has many legs, a very good physique and is good in the air. He met my expectations with his specificities, he gives security and a good balance on a defensive level”, defined the coach with whom he conquered Ligue 1. “He is a machine on his wing, the best left-back in French football and very difficult to beat for rivals. In addition, he is supportive in covering the central defenders when they take us out of position ”, the veteran Portuguese central defender José Fonte, a teammate at Lille said. 

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Wass spent most of his childhood with Copenhagen suburb club BK Avarta, but in 2006, he was scouted by Brondby and promptly switched clubs. He joined the first team after a year of playing for the club’s youth teams. Wass made his Danish international debut in 2011 against England. Wass signed a four-year contract with Celta Vigo on June 22, 2015. Wass scored one goal and assisted on another in a 2–2 tie with Real Madrid. Wass was named to Denmark’s preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia in May 2018 but he did not make the final 23. Wass, the best part about the Dane is that he can play both as a midfielder and an attacking full-back, he quickly emerged as the man they would turn to. Diego Simeone typically uses a back three with wing-backs, which Wass will fit into perfectly.
 

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