The start of the season for our new signings
Hjulmand, Grimaldo, Jonathan David, Romero and Kang joined the Club this summer, while Esquivel, Arnau Ortíz and Dani Martínez have been promoted to the First Team.
The early stages of the campaign have given rise to five of the new faces at Atleti. Morten Hjulmand, Alejandro Grimaldo, Jonathan David, Cristian Romero and Kang In Lee arrived at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano from Lisbon, Leverkusen, Turin, London and Paris, respectively.
Meanwhile, three of our Academy products are getting an initial taste of first-team football. Salvador Esquivel, Arnau Ortíz and Dani Martínez are among the options for head coach Diego Pablo Simeone thanks to an impressive campaign with Atlético Madrileño last season.
New signings
Hjulmand, Kang In and Grimaldo got minutes in pre-season. The South Korean made his Atleti debut in his home country. Hjulmand got a taste of the action against Manchester United in Stockholm, while Grimaldo made his debut against Olympique Marseille at the Vélodrome. Romero and David, on the other hand, joined the Club in the final weeks of the transfer window.
Since the start of the season, Hjulmand has featured in seven LALIGA matches and one in the UEFA Champions League. He made his competitive debut on Matchday 1, against Málaga. In Portugal, among others, he won back-to-back Liga de Portugal titles with Sporting CP (2023/24 and 2024/25).
Grimaldo, who joined the Rojiblancos as a recent World Champion with Spain, made his debut against Villarreal in our second game of the league season. Since then, he has played the full 90 in all of our LALIGA games, save for an 85-minute appearance against Osasuna. He has scored twice, against Real Sociedad and Real Madrid, and also registered an assist in our game in San Sebastián. During his career, as well as the aforementioned World Cup, he has won the 2024 Euros, a Bundesliga title with Bayer Leverkusen (2023/24) and four Liga Portugal titles with Benfica.
Kang In has also featured in all of our games so far, scoring a goal each against Málaga and Osasuna and providing an assist at the Sánchez-Pizjuán. He is a player with prior LALIGA experience and has an impressive trophy cabinet, which includes the UEFA Champions League (2024/25 and 2025/26), the FIFA Intercontinental Cup (2025/26), the UEFA Super Cup (2025/26) and Ligue 1 (2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26). In Spain, he won the Copa del Rey with Valencia in 2019.
Romero joined Atleti after reaching the FIFA World Cup final with Argentina in the summer. He was crowned world champion at Qatar 2022 and has won two Copa América titles with the Albiceleste (2021 and 2024). In club football, he won the UEFA Europa League with Tottenham in 2025. He made his Atleti debut in our visit to San Mamés and, since then, has been a stalwart in defence.
David got his first minutes for the Rojiblancos away in San Sebastián. During his first few weeks as our striker, he has become only the seventh player to score in his first three league games for Atleti (Real Sociedad, Osasuna and Real Madrid). During his spell with LOSC, he won Ligue 1 and the French Super Cup.
The Academy
Of the three players promoted from Atlético Madrileño to our first team, Arnau Ortíz was a key figure in Primera RFEF last season. The Catalan forward made 38 appearances, scoring 23 goals and providing six assists. He made his competitive Primera División debut against Málaga this season and has also featured against Sevilla, Athletic Club, Real Sociedad and Osasuna.
Esquivel completes our goalkeeping group alongside Jan Oblak and Juan Musso. Under Fernando Torres last season, he made 29 appearances for Atlético Madrileño and kept ten clean sheets.
Dani Martínez made his competitive first-team debut last season. This term, he played the full match against Málaga at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on the opening matchday. He made 33 competitive appearances for Atlético Madrileño last season, providing four assists.
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