Five things to know about Rodrigo Riquelme as Reading land starlet on loan

According to Spanish source Marca, the country’s leading sports daily publication, Sky Bet Championship side Reading have landed highly-rated Atletico Madrid phenom Rodrigo Riquelme on a season-long loan deal.

The Madrid-born 20-year-old is very highly-thought-of at the Wanda Metropolitana. Alongside that comes recognition from other sides in the skill and potential that he has in him.

Reading finished in a somewhat lowly 14th position last season, a season blighted by inconsistencies that stopped them achieving what many say is a higher position based on the potential the team has.

Potential is definitely something that Rodrigo Riquelme has. Atletico Madrid has seen it, other sides have seen it and now Reading fans are going to see it.

Ahead of this, here are five things to know about Rodrigo Riquelme to whet the appetite.

Five things to know – Rodrigo Riquelme

1. 43 appearances across all competitions as a ‘senior’ player in the Atletico Madrid set-up. 22 games for the B side in 2ᵃB – Grupo 1. This is the third tier of Spanish football. In these games he has 5 goals and 2 assists. He’s also featured in 18 UEFA Youth League game (3 goals/5 assists).
2. He’s made two first-team appearances as part of his 43 appearances for Atleti with 12 minutes in La Liga against SD Eibar – he also featured 10 times on the bench. He came off the bench for 18 minutes in the Copa del Rey against CyD Leonesa in a 2-1 AET loss.
3. Reading beat off opposition from other sides to land him on loan for next season. Marca said this included “three other English clubs, plus one from Portugal” whilst La Razon were more specific and quoted earlier interest from Real Betis, Rayo Vallecano, Real Madrid and Scottish pair Rangers and Celtic.
4. It’s a loan deal only according to Marca, Spain’s top sports daily publication. Calling him Atleti’s “pearl“, Marca say that the Spanish giants “are in the process of closing a renewal to his loan” before allowing the move to be ratified.
5. He is a player that has already excited Reading players in a 30-minute friendly appearance against Portimonense on Tuesday. It’s not hard to see why:

YouTube: RODRIGO RIQUELME ✭ ATLETICO MADRID ✭ MR. ASSIST ✭ Skills & Goals ✭ 2020 ✭