You usually don’t associate Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid with flair, dribblings and trickery. It’s more like hard work, tactical perfection and winning 1-0 with little excitement. Or at least – that’s the Rojiblancos reputation. But there are steps to change it. Atletico announced the signing of 22-year-old Brazilian winger Samuel Lino from Portuguese club Gil Vicente.Saturday, 02.00: (10.5) Trinidad W (5.70) Costa Rica W (1.23)The highly technical player arrives for a fee of around $7 million and the rather fancy title of being the player with the most successful dribbles in the Portuguese top division last season. In the 2021/22 campaign, he made a total of 63 good dribbles, 1.85 per match on average.Lino scored 26 goals in 99 matches for Gil Vicente over the past three seasons and established himself as one of the best players outside the three biggest Portuguese clubs, Benfica, Porto and Sporting CP. Speaking of them, there was interest among them for the Brazilian’s signature, but Simeone was the quickest.🎙| Samuel Lino: “I am very happy to be here at Atlético. It means a lot to me. It’s a very big feeling of pride. I have no words to describe this moment.” pic.twitter.com/sKutUOCajc— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) July 8, 2022 Adapted to different attacking situations, Samuel can play on either side of the field and also through the middle. Last season, he made 38 appearances and scored 14 goals for the Barcelos-based club. Gil Vicente made the biggest sale in their history and could earn even more on the deal because they will receive 20 per cent of any future sale.Lino is the second new player to arrive to Wanda Metropolitano this offseason, following Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel through the door.
