One of the names that has received numerous praises during the last pre-season at Atlético de Madrid is Ilias Kostis. The Atlético youth player has been working all summer with the first team, getting many minutes in friendlies. However, despite showing a good level, he has not managed to make a place for himself in Simeone's team.
At the Colchoneros, there was no clear idea of what the future of their young centre-back should be, with several options on the table. Finally, he has returned to Atlético de Madrid 's reserve team, where he has already played several minutes under Fernando Torres . However, it should be remembered that he made his official debut with the first team last season and a similar situation could occur again.
The mystery with Ilias Kostis
Defence was one of Atlético de Madrid 's main targets when looking for reinforcements in the last transfer market. This area of the pitch was where the red-and-white team suffered the most losses , needing to close several reinforcements to compensate for them. Especially important was the left-footed profile, a position occupied by Mario Hermoso until his departure as a free agent.
While the sporting management was scanning the market, Ilias Kostis began to gain a lot of prominence under Simeone . The Greek trained with the rest of the first team and had minutes in the friendlies that were played during the summer. In fact, he seemed to be several steps ahead of Reinildo , who needed to find his best level again.
However, once the season has officially started, the youth player has returned to the lower categories. Ilias Kostis has been a starter in the first two matches that Atlético de Madrid B has played in the 1ª RFEF category. For his part, Reinildo is being able to convince Simeone and has already made several starts in the first four matches.
Reinildo recovers his best version
Right now, it seems that the Mozambican is able to show that he is capable of improving his performance compared to last season. After his serious knee injury, Reinildo saw Mario Hermoso take his place and needed to find his feet again. He made some mistakes in decisive matches, something that caused César Azpilicueta to end the season occupying the left-footed role.
Despite a somewhat complicated preseason, it seems that Simeone is able to find the best version of Reinildo . The Argentine coach has used the defender both as a centre-back and as a left-back, making it clear that he has a lot of confidence in him. In addition, Clement Lenglet has not yet made his debut, despite being the reinforcement that arrived at the Metropolitano to improve the defence.
Ilias Kostis is waiting for his chance
In such a long season with so many games, it is clear that the academy graduate might have to return to the first team . His official debut took place in the victory against Feyenoord in the Champions League group stage last season. The left-footed centre-back position still raises some doubts for Simeone and it cannot be ruled out that Ilias Kostis could get minutes again in the coming months.