The #10 shirt at Atlético de Madrid comes with a big responsibility.
For some players, it’s a perfect fit. Paulo Futre and Sergio Agüero are two of the most talented individuals ever to play for this club. Arda Turan and Ángel Correa were champions who wore that shirt number. Despite his volatility, Yannick Carrasco is one of the more memorable players of the Diego Simeone, and he was this club’s #10 for a time.
For others, the #10 shirt is much too large. It’s a millstone, a burden that creates additional pressure and expectation that can’t be met. I’m thinking of Mateja Kežman, for Atlético fans of a certain age. Óliver Torres, once one of the most promising prospects from the Atleti academy, wilted under the spotlight when he was awarded the #10 shirt following Arda’s departure for FC Barcelona in 2015.
Midway through his first season at Atlético, the uber-talented Álex Baena somewhat incredibly finds himself in this latter category.
Though he has shown flashes of brilliance here and there, Baena’s debut season in the Spanish capital has been a major disappointment. A player whose unique style generated elite chance creation figures in the past two seasons, Baena has struggled to make the step up from Villarreal to Atleti — and his most recent performances show a player who, physically and tactically, isn’t fitting in.
Following his highly-anticipated €42 million move from Villarreal in July, Baena has registered only two goals and one assist over 16 appearances (829 minutes) in LaLiga. In 11 appearances across three other competitions, the Spain international has yet to contribute a goal or an assist. The star arrival from last summer’s window — which, six months on, has been disastrous except for twosignings — Baena has spent 54 days out with three separate injuries, and he has played 90 minutes exactly once.
Expected to shine behind Julián Alvarez, in a free left-midfield role similar to the one who enjoyed at Villarreal, Baena instead has found that the structure here doesn’t support him. In Marcelino’s team, Baena benefitted from playing ahead of ball-winners like Santi Comesaña and Dani Parejo; at Atlético, Johnny Cardoso was supposed to fill this role, but the United States international has missed two-thirds of the season through injury. Koke, as well as he has performed this season, is not a destroyer who offers freewheeling creator Baena the luxury of losing the ball 11 times per game.
On one hand, it makes me think that more logical signings will help clarify Baena’s role in the team. On the other, it’s been five weeks since he was hauled off before the hour in a Copa del Rey match against Deportivo La Coruña, and Baena is having the same problems: he lacks synergy and combinations with others. His isolation on the field of play is palpable: Baena’s key passes per 90 minutes in LaLiga have dipped from 3.1 in 2024/25 to 1.4 this season. He created 21 “big chances” a season ago, and he’s accrued only six as a Rojiblanco. Plus, Diego Simeone won’t play him more than an hour in most circumstances.
Three goal contributions from 27 appearances is not what anyone had in mind for Baena when he completed his transfer to Atlético. And though the club has insisted that Baena has time — of course he does, he’s signed to 2030 — I am reminded of something I wrote when Ángelito Correa left Atlético for Mexican side Tigres last summer:
“I don’t envy whoever takes the #10 shirt next, because it will not be easy to replace that which Ángel Correa Martínez brought to Atlético de Madrid.”
So far, Baena hasn’t come close.