Nicolas Gaitan did not have the best of times under Diego Simeone, managing a handful of appearances before being sold to Dalian Yifang.
Atletico Madrid signed Nicolas Gaitan amidst much fanfare. The Argentine had an impressive spell with Benfica and made his way to Los Rojiblancos in a €25 million deal.
It did not work out in La Liga as the Argentine had planned. Gaitan could only conjure 43 appearances for the Capital club and was swiftly moved on to Chinese Super League entity Dalian Yifang.
The attacking midfielder has regrets about his stay in La Liga and attributes it to lack of consistent playing opportunities. Gaitan reflected that it affected his confidence and reasoned himself out of it by looking at playing time afforded him.
“It clearly didn’t go to plan; things didn’t work out well,” Marca quoted Gaitan.
“After a while, I realized that it wasn’t the best option.
“I didn’t even play three games in a row.
“And if a player doesn’t get to play three games in a row… Maybe the team didn’t think I was up to the task or didn’t rate the way I played.
“After that, I was self-deprecating for a long time, I finally realized that if I never played three games on the trot, how could I know if I could have succeeded at Atletico or not.
“Things didn’t work out at Atletico because I didn’t play.”
Gaitan has moved around ever since but is back in Europe. Before the coronavirus pandemic halted sporting activities, he was on the books of Lille. He has now joined Braga on a free transfer.
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