€5 million! Atlético Madrid's attacker's value plummets to an all-time low, bought for €72 million 5 years ago
On the morning of January 2nd, Beijing time, the German transfer market website updated the value of La Liga players. The French attacking player Thomas Lemar, who plays for Atlético Madrid, is now valued at only 5 million euros. At his peak, his value was as high as 70 million euros, and Atlético Madrid spent 72 million euros to sign him five years ago.
This season, Atlético Madrid's performance has soared. After a 2-1 away victory over Barcelona in the 18th round of La Liga, Simeone's team has won seven consecutive victories in La Liga and 12 consecutive victories in all competitions, successfully topping the La Liga standings. However, none of this has much to do with Lemar. So far, the 29-year-old French attacking player has only played two games as a substitute for Atlético Madrid, one in La Liga for 13 minutes and one in the King's Cup for 22 minutes, totaling 35 minutes with no goals or assists, having become a marginal player. But what's worse is that Lemar's contract runs until the summer of 2027.
Born in November 1995, Lemar is 29 years old this year and comes from the Caen youth training in France. He once played 36 games in various competitions for the Caen first team, scoring 1 goal and providing 6 assists. In July 2015, Ligue 1 giants Monaco signed Lemar for 4 million euros. At the Stade Louis II, Lemar fully demonstrated his abilities. In the 2016/17 season, he scored 14 goals and provided 14 assists in 55 games in various competitions, leading Monaco to win the Ligue 1 championship and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League. At that time, Lemar was in his prime, not inferior to teammates like Mbappé, Bernardo Silva, and Fabinho.
In the summer of 2017, Lemar had the opportunity to join Liverpool, and Arsenal also favored him, but ultimately neither deal went through. In July 2018, Lemar finally chose to leave Monaco, and La Liga giants Atlético Madrid signed the French genius midfielder for 72 million euros. In his first La Liga season, Lemar played 43 games in various competitions, scoring 4 goals and providing 6 assists, which was considered average. But in the following season, he only played 29 games in various competitions due to injury and failed to score.
In the summer of 2022, Lemar, who had only one year left on his contract with Atlético Madrid, was originally going to be cleaned out, but because no one was interested, he eventually renewed his contract with the club until the summer of 2027. In exchange, the Frenchman's annual salary of 9.6 million euros was halved. Even so, Atlético Madrid made a losing deal. Last season, after renewing his contract, Lemar soon suffered a serious Achilles tendon rupture and underwent surgery, only returning to fitness at the end of the season but did not get any playing time, with his statistics remaining at 3 games, 0 goals, and 0 assists. This season, with the addition of midfield reinforcements like Álvarez and Gallagher, as well as Griezmann's rejuvenation, Lemar's situation has become even more difficult.
From a versatile midfielder worth 70 million at his peak to a marginal player now worth only 5 million due to injuries, Lemar's career has become fragmented and unbearable. What's even more of a headache is Atlético Madrid, who spent a lot of money to sign him. The player's contract still has two and a half years left, but there are no takers to send him away, and he just takes his salary without doing any work. No one knows where he will go from here.