Halfway through the course, Atlético de Madrid has faced a double restructuring that affects the club’s organizational chart and the squad. The offices have been shaken with the appointments of Carlos Bucero as general director of football and Óscar Mayo of revenue and operations, while a series of market movements have begun that will affect the squad.
The growth of Atlético in recent years and the obligations of CEO Miguel Ángel Gil Marín have led to the entity’s new governance design. Gil Marín, in addition to directing the club, is first vice president of LaLiga, a member of the executive committee of the European Club Association (ECA) and in February he will join the UEFA committee. Atlético’s projects with clubs in Mexico (San Luis) and Canada (Ottawa) are also part of Gil Marín’s busy agenda. “The arrival of Carlos [Bucero] and Oscar [Mayo] It comes to reinforce the two fundamental vertical areas of the club, the Football area and the Income and Operations area, and has a double objective: on the one hand it will allow me to take a step aside in the management of certain areas of the club to be able to fulfill my commitments in the different positions I hold, but, above all, it will help us enhance the work of the current teams to guarantee that we continue to grow,” Gil Marín stated on the club’s website. He intends for these two executives to report directly to him on the functioning of the areas that are linked to their respective positions.
Under the control of Bucero (50 years old) will be the sports management, led by Andrea Berta, responsible for the first team and the pre-elite teams; the women’s soccer area directed by Lola Romero and the club’s Academy, which is under the direction of Emilio Gutiérrez. Bucero comes from the world of representation, where he was a regular collaborator of Jorge Mendes in the Spanish market. He was also deputy to Pedja Mijatovic when he was the sports director of Real Madrid for three years. For the position of Bucero, the name of Mateu Alemany sounded strongly during the last months of 2023. He considered joining Atlético for granted, but in the end he did not reach an agreement with Gil Marín. In the case of Alemany, the figure of Andrea Berta could feel threatened. The fit with Bucero also remains to be seen.
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Óscar Mayo (34 years old) comes from LaLiga, where he held the position of general executive director. He is considered one of the most promising young executives in Spanish football to the point that he was even pointed out as a hypothetical replacement for Javier Tebas when he leaves the management. Another key incorporation is that of Jesús Vicente for the area of the new Sports City, which will be built on the outskirts of the Metropolitano.
If the management organization chart has been shaken, there is also movement on the campus. The Croatian goalkeeper Ivo Grbic will leave for Sheffield United tired of his role as Jan Oblak’s eternal substitute, Javi Galán is going on loan to Real Sociedad and the Turkish Söyüncü has also sought minutes with his loan to Fenerbahçe. Both the left back and the center back were two of the reinforcements last summer. They never filled Diego Pablo Simeone’s eye. Neither one nor the other has managed to convince the Argentine coach in the few opportunities he has given them.
The other probable exit is that of Ángel Correa, with a succulent offer from Al-Hilal. The departure of the Argentine attacker depends on the transfer that the current Saudi champion is willing to pay. “We don’t need a mega offer, but we do need a convincing one,” they say from the club. Among the hires, Simeone prefers a five, but he wouldn’t mind an interior either. The player who most excites us is Antwerp’s Belgian midfielder Arthur Veermeren (18 years old). Bucero works this Tuesday in the operation. Cholo has already given the go-ahead to the Romanian goalkeeper Moldovan, who has already passed a medical examination and in the next few hours the arrival of attacker Moise Kean is expected, on loan from Juventus Turin until the end of the season.