5 former Atletico Madrid players we can’t believe are still playing in 2024
Plenty of big names have played for Atletico Madrid – but we can’t believe that some of them are still going deep into the autumn of their careers.
Under the management of Diego Simeone, the 2010s saw Atleti become heavyweights in both La Liga and the Champions League with the help of some world-class footballers.
We’ve picked out five former Atleti stars who we can’t believe are still playing professionally in 2024.
Diego Godin
Godin is an Atletico Madrid legend; the Uruguayan defender made 389 appearances for the club and scored the goal that clinched the La Liga title in 2014.
Joining Inter after time at Atleti came to an end in 2019, Godin spent just a single season in Milan but did manage to score in the Europa League final defeat to Sevilla.
The Uruguay defender moved to Cagliari, but eventually returned to South America. He’s since played in Brazil, Argentina, and now Porongos in his home country.
Radamel Falcao
There was a period when Falcao was arguably the best striker in world football.
The Colombian scored an impressive 70 goals in 91 appearances during his two seasons at the Vicente Calderon and helped Atleti win the Europa League, Super Cup and Copa Del Rey.
His time at Monaco was impressive. His time at Chelsea and Manchester United was significantly less impressive, perhaps dulling our memories of the impressible goalscorer.
Believe it or not, but aged 38 he’s still playing to this day. After spending the last three seasons in Spain with Rayo Vallecano, he recently returned to Columbia and signed for Millonarios.
Ever Banega
A grizzled doyen of any Streets Won’t Forget XI worth its salt, Banega was a key part of a Sevilla side that racked up Europa Leagues for fun and an Argentina team that heartbreakingly missed out on glory with three successive final defeats between 2014 and 2016.
But you might have forgotten he made 24 appearances for Atleti during a loan spell with the club in 2008-09.
The midfielder demonstrated his eternal class in his final season at Sevilla, with his role in their last – 2019-20 – Europa League trophy offering evidence that he could’ve stuck around at a high European level for many more years.
Instead he waved goodbye by taking up a lucrative offer from Al Shabab, where he actually spent four full seasons and racked up over a hundred appearances.
After a healthy bump to his retirement pot, 36-year-old Banega has departed the Gulf state and returned to his hometown Rosario, signing for Newell’s Old Boys.
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Hector Herrera
We don’t consider it a proper World Cup until we’ve seen Hector Herrera box-to-boxing the sh*t out of a group stage match for Mexico.
The midfielder is best remembered in Europe for his impressive spell at Porto, but he also spent three years at Atleti between 2019 and 2022 and helped them win the La Liga title in 2021.
He’s now playing in the MLS for Houston Dynamo.
Nico Gaitan
A name you won’t have thought of for roughly a decade, Gaitan is another entry who made his name in Portuguese football and earned a move to Atleti on the back of his eye-catching displays for Benfica.
But the midfielder only lasted a season-and-a-half in Spain before being sold to Chinese club Dalian Yifang. From there, Gaitan’s career became increasingly nomadic and involved spells in America, France, Uruguay and Argentina.
It’s the latter where Gaitan remains today playing for Sarmiento.