Borja Baston: Atletico Madrid's Rising Star

BY EWAH CHIKA

"Borja Baston has certainly imagined it, while dreaming thousands of times hitting of the back of the net at the Vincent Calderon," were the words of Victor Arroyo on Eibar forward and Atletico Madrid's academy graduate Borja Baston who spent last season on loan with the Basque club. 


While Atletico Madrid was applauded for their defensive prowess and concentration last season, one area that will get Argentine Diego Simeone thinking is the quality of his forward players next season.  

Even though his team reached the final of the Champions League before losing on penalties to Real Madrid and even pushed La Liga champions Barcelona to the final few weeks of the campaign, Diego Simeone's strikers struggled all season in front of goal. Jackson Martinez was so poor that he was sold mid-way in January, six months after his signing for a fee in excess of €35 million from FC Porto . Vietto did not impress Simeone enough and hardly got playing time eventually ending the season with a lone goal while veteran Fernando Torres flattered to deceive as his goals though were handy weren't enough for a title chasing side. 

This brings up the debate over the availability of Atletico Madrid Spanish academy product Borja Baston who was outstanding during his season long loan in Eibar scoring 18 goals in 35 games for the Basque team who finished 16th In the table last season. Under coach Jose Luis Mendilibar, Baston has been impressive providing three assists and having  as much as 2.6 shots per game coupled with a pass accuracy of 69.1%. Though far from a finished product the forward has shown his first impressive loan spell in the Segunda Division with Real Sociedad where he scored 22 league goals in the 2014/2015 season wasn't a fluke. 

Baston will suit perfectly with Diego Simeone's physical style as his impressive record shows that he wins 1.7 aerial duels per game to match with his perfect finishing, tackling ability and quality flick-on's . At 23, Baston has been at Atletico all his life before going on loan to the aforementioned clubs. The forward had been so impressive in his early years at the club that he was always compared to club legend Fernando Torres and also forced Alvaro Morata to quit Atletico and move to Real Madrid in their days together at the Vincent Calderon. It did not end there as he also took the limelight off Morata during their time in the age level for the national team  . This was until his foot injury while playing on loan at Murcja which delayed his progress and nearly ended his career.

There is no doubt concerning the talent and desire of the forward but one area he will have to improve on is his passing , offside awareness and hold on the ball which is not yet at the level required for a striker of a top club. 

There is no point in buying another forward next season for Simeone after the signing of winger Nicolas Gaitan from Benfica as the funds would rather be spent on an energetic and hard tackling defensive midfielder to learn the ropes from the likes of Gabi and Augusto who are approaching their decline . Borja Baston and Atletico Madrid are a match made in heaven and the player should be played more next season as he relies heavily on his goal scoring runs to excel . While Fernando Torres might be more experienced coupled with his better technique, Baston represents the future and will repay the faith shown in him by Simeone just like he did to Mendilibar in Eibar last season.