Diego Simeone says he was offered '35 million reasons' to leave Atletico Madrid, but he's committed
Diego Simeone is a wanted man. The Atletico Madrid manager is coveted by a number of teams around the world, but he says he's staying put for now, no matter what kind of temptation is tossed in his face. He has no shortage of suitors, and should he step away from the Vicente Calderon, the numbers would undoubtedly be right, too.
Simeone's been at Atleti since 2011, and since then he's molded the club in his image. Despite operating on a shoestring budget compared to neighboring Real Madrid and the Blaugrana giants over in Barcelona, Simeone succeeded, and even flourished. His hyper-aggressive pressing style of play has brought Atleti a number of trophies. His deep and genuine love for the club has indelibly endeared him to the fanbase, and his sideline histrionics have made him a worldwide phenomenon. Under his stewardship, Los Colchoneros' have become an organization whose knack for finding and replenishing talent is now nearly unmatched in the world game, and he's turned the club into a consistent world power.
Under Simeone, Atleti broke the Barcelona-Real duopoly, winning La Liga in 2014. He led Atleti to the Champions League final twice, and turned appearances in the quarterfinals into a regularity. The former Argentina midfielder, who even played for Atletico during his long and storied career, turned rough diamonds like Antoine Griezmann and Koke into highly sought after jewels of the world game, all the while turning out teams that challenged the traditional Spanish big two with a regularity that hasn't been seen in years.
With his success at Atleti, it seems inevitable that he'll leave the smaller confines of the 'other' side of Madrid for a larger club or a different challenge, and he hasn't denied it. He reduced his contract from a 2020 expiration to 2018, and it makes sense to expect he likely won't renew after that. For now though, he says he's fully committed to the club he's helped build up, and he's not thinking about anywhere else.
"If I'd wanted to move to another club, then I had 35 million reasons to go, 35 million reasons!" Simeone told AS.
"But in the end I didn't go because I didn't want to and I still don't want to. I still feel a strong sense of identity with the club and in what I do here on a day-to-day basis and have a massive attachment with the squad and feel that we are still raw recruits."
Simeone certainly doesn't seem to have plans to leave before his contract is up, despite the whirlwind of interest surrounding him. He's got Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals of Champions League once again, and with Leicester City the obstacle in their way, it's reasonable to expect that the fairy tale will end here for the Foxes. They're all but out of the title race in the league, and it's not a stretch to think Simeone would want to go out of Madrid with a bang.
The fact that his proteges like Griezmann seem willing to stick it out with him for another round, makes it even more likely that Simeone runs his contract out instead of leaving in the summer.
It's tough to turn down 35 million reasons to move. For Simeone though, the money will be there. Winning at Atletico Madrid is the only reason for anything right now.
