Simeone claims he turned down € 35m offer to leave Atletico Madrid last summer
>> BARCELONA: Diego Simeone said on Thursday he considered quitting Atletico Madrid last summer following defeat to city rivals Real Madrid in the 2016 Champions League final, and turned down a €35 million offer from another club to leave.
The former midfielder has transformed Atletico’s fortunes in his five years in charge. But in the aftermath of last season’s penalty shoot-out defeat in the San Siro he hinted he was thinking about leaving. At the time, he told a news conference: “I’m thinking I have to start thinking about it.”
In an i nterview with Spanish sports daily AS published on Thursday, Simeone explained his thought process and gave details of a lucrative offer to leave Atletico.
“I got to the press room and had to go through the area where Real Madrid were celebrating and I felt a lot of pain, and I started to think that this was going to be a difficult year and it would be hard to motivate my players again,” he said.
“I said what I felt, that I needed to think about it. Is that so bad? You have to remember if I wanted to go to another team I would have had 35 million reasons. 35 million! But I didn’t leave because I didn’t want to.”
Spanish media reported that Simeone was alluding to an offer from French champions Paris St Germain, who appointed Spaniard Unai Emery in June.
Atletico were teetering above the relegation zone when the Argentine took charge in December 2011. Under his guidance, the club has finished in the top three in La Liga four years in a row, winning a first title in 18 years in 2014.
The Rojiblancos have also reached the Champions League quarter-finals for four successive years and face Leicester City in April for a place in the last four. Next season they will move to the 67,000-seater Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
“I don’t want to leave because I