JUST WHERE WILL DIEGO?

In-demand Simeone facing key summer

DIEGO SIMEONE made a pledge to Atletico Madrid that he would lead them into their new era when the club moves stadium next season. But now the man nicknamed El Cholo has a big decision to make. Inter Milan are pushing to appoint him this summer and he has publicly acknowledged his desire to manage the sleeping Italian giants he played for in the late 90s. Atletico’s bitter city rivals Real Madrid have already ended Simeone’s Champions League dreams three seasons running – twice in the final – and after a Cristiano Ronaldo inspired 3-0 semi-final thrashing are on the verge of doing it yet again. After the 2016 final defeat in Milan, Simeone cut two years off his contract, which now expires next summer. This latest humiliation by Madrid might finish him off even earlier than that. The San Siro is calling. Despite the coach’s loyalty over the past five-and-a-half years, a period in which he turned Atletico from also-rans to title contenders, lifting La Liga in 2014, there is only so much a man can take. The second leg at the Vicente Calderon next Wednesday will be akin to a funeral, the stadium’s swansong in Europe and Atletico’s dreams of a first Champions League victory extinguished yet again. They have played at the legendary stadium, in the heart of their traditional working-class fan-base in Madrid’s south for just over half a century. But next season they start a fresh chapter in the north east of the city, at the new Wanda Metropolitano. Whatever Simeone’s decision, any team coached by the touchline whirlwind wearing all black will be lucky to have him.

HANDING OVER Diego Simeone had said he would stay at Atletico, but now it looks like he could move on