Atletico Madrid's defensive recruitment has left a lot to be desired with former Arsenal man Gabriel Paulista and ex-Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta yet to prove their worth at the La Liga champions.

If you've still got the impression of Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid being a team made up of grizzled, battle-scarred warriors willing to sacrifice blood, sweat and a few limbs for a clean sheet, then we'll just presume you didn't tune into Saturday's dismal 2-0 defeat at relegation-battlers Cadiz.

It is almost a decade now since the Atletico of Diego Godin, Juanfran, Felipe Luis and Juan Miranda stunned Barcelona to claim the La Liga title.

The defensive options at Simeone's disposal in 2024, however, would struggle to even lace the boots of legends gone.

Cesar Azpilicueta, the 34-year-old full-back who was clearly on the decline even before leaving Chelsea for Madrid, has started only nine games all season.

One-time Arsenal stopper Gabriel Paulista, meanwhile, endured an afternoon to forget as Atleti slipped 14 points adrift of Real Madrid in Cadiz.

Gabriel, who spent two years at Arsenal before sealing a PS10 million move to Valencia in 2017, was a rather eye-catching signing during the January window.

And not necessarily for the right reasons.

For Gibson, the 33-year-old's arrival on a free transfer is merely the continuation of a worrying recent trend, Azpilicueta, Axel Witsel and former Leicester City ace Caglar Soyuncu already having failed to live up to Atleti's expectations.

"Soyuncu comes into that category.

Azpilicueta comes into that category," Gibson argues.

"Witsel comes in as a midfielder and plays at centre-back.

It's glaringly obvious (that their defensive signings need to be better).

"Javi Galan, Mario Hermoso and Tottenham Hotspur misfit Sergio Reguilon have also endured frustrating spells at the Wanda Metropolitano in recent seasons.

Reguilon, who is now on loan at Brentford, started only two of his 11 La Liga games under Simeone.

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