Atleti renew Theo Hernandez contract

We’ve talked several times here about an emerging philosophy at Atletico Madrid; that is, the renewal of the team’s foundational pieces to maintain competitiveness and ward off interest from Europe’s richest clubs. Antoine Griezmann, Saul Niguez and Jan Oblak are some of the players to benefit from this new, different (and better) philosophy, and it appears another name reportedly joined them on Thursday.

The player in question is highly-touted but has not played a minute for Atletico. Left back/center back Theo Hernandez, Lucas’ brother and a Copa del Rey winner with Atleti’s youth side earlier this summer, has renewed his contract for six years, according to AS. The new contract includes a 24 million euros buyout clause - evidently to ward off Barcelona’s wandering eyes. Lucas received *his* new contract to 2019 last August but it is not inconceivable that the 20-year-old is in line for another renewal in the next few months.

Theo, just 18 years old, has been linked with a loan move to Alaves for the coming season in order to ensure playing time. However, it is possible he remains alongside his older brother in the first team - at least through the first half of the league season. At any rate, it’s clear Atleti highly value the young defender and view him as a crucial piece three or four years down the road.