The rumors have been circulating for a while that Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone will become the new Inter manager in 2018..
Those rumors were given an added boost on Thursday when Atletico Madrid announced that they had taken the unusual step of reducing the Argentine’s contract by two years, with his current deal now set expire in 2018.
The change underlines Simeone’s desire to bring to an end what will have been a seven-year stay at the club. Simeone is already Spain’s longest serving manager by a distance and having won five trophies with Atletico and taken them to two European Cup finals he has already secured his place in the club’s history as one of its greatest coaches.
The 46-year-old Simeone reportedly wants to leave Madrid on good terms and by delaying his departure until 2018, that will allow him to see the club into their new 67,000 capacity stadium next season and through a difficult 18 months without being able to sign new players after the appeal against a FIFA transfer ban was rejected
Simeone will be wanted by a lot of Europe’s big clubs, but as I wrote last week, El Confidencial and El Chiringuito, have reported that Simeone already has a deal lined up with Inter for the 2018 season.
Earlier this summer Simeone told Mediaset that he has spoken about a return to his former Inter and Argentina teammate Javier Zanetti.
“We’ve exchanged a few words on the phone and as I’ve always said, and I have no fear of saying it again now, one day I will return to Milan because I did well there and left a great memory there, and I have the objective of going back as coach,” Simeone said.
It is not the first time Simeone has spoken openly about his desire to coach Inter. As far back as February 2013 he was quoted as saying that he would “certainly” take charge of the club one day.
“Sooner or later, one day, I will be the coach of Inter,” he told Sky Italia. “I left many positive memories as a player at Sevilla, Lazio and Inter.
“This makes me believe that some day I could also be coach of these teams. After all, it happened with Atletico Madrid. I did well here as a player, and now I must do well as a coach.
“We’ll see what destiny has to say, but will we meet again in Milan? Yes, certainly yes.”
