At 11:59 p.m. local time on Monday night, Atlético de Madrid confirmed the arrival of Elche midfielder Rodrigo Mendoza in a €16 million transfer.
The figures nearly mirror those of the Marc Pubill transfer from July. Atleti have avoided triggering the €20 million release clause in Mendoza’s contract with Elche Ilicitano (their reserve team), instead agreeing to the €16 million fee with a package of variables and a sell-on clause in a “lightning-fast”
negotiation.
Atlético fended off reported interest from the Premier League and from FC Barcelona to secure Mendoza’s signature on a five-and-a-half year contract to 2031. And with all of six LaLiga starts under his belt, the 20-year-old Mendoza has just become Elche’s record sale.
Marca first reported on Atleti’s interest in Mendoza, who has earned comparisons to Pedri González — a comparison made by none other than the Barcelona star himself. Mendoza made 44 appearances (19 starts) in Segunda over the past two seasons, scoring two goals and providing two assists; upon making the leap to LaLiga this term, he has appeared in 16 games and scored one goal across 794 minutes.
Though Elche sit 13th and only two points from the drop zone, Éder Sarabia’s side are third in the league in possession average at 57.9 percent. They have a number of technical players who like to play on the front foot, like Mendoza.
Mateu Alemany opted to sign Mendoza after Atalanta shut down talks over their midfielder Éderson, while Atleti had similar luck in trying to entice Sporting Clube to sell their captain Morten Hjulmand. In addition, the club’s verbal agreement to sign Al-Hilal striker Marcos Leonardo fell through at the last minute, after Al-Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo went on strike (no, I’m not kidding) to protest the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia’s lack of transfer activity.
Instead, Atleti have signed a super-promising young midfielder who has made four appearances for Spain’s under-21 side and impressed in Elche’s 1-1 draw at the Metropolitano in August. Mendoza has flashed great technique, composure and passing ability during his first half-season in Primera; he could form an exciting partnership with Pablo Barrios in the future.
It remains to be seen how what Diego Simeone sees in Mendoza and how he deploys him for the second half of the season. Atlético have fallen 10 points behind Barcelona and nine points behind Real Madrid in LaLiga, but they visit Real Betis in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on Thursday and travel to Belgium for the first leg of a Champions League play-off tie with Club Brugge on Feb. 18.
