Diego Simeone’s tenure as Atletico Madrid manager is in jeopardy due to the club’s board wanting to keep Joao Felix.
The Portuguese international cost the Spanish side a record-breaking £113million in 2019, but has been inconsistent since his move.
Now, according to Guillem Balague, Atletico’s board are attempting to get fans on Felix’s side and possibly ‘push’ out Simeone in favour of keeping him at the club.
With many clubs deterred by his hefty price tag, it seems they may be leaning on the loan option with Premier League club Chelsea reportedly leading the way in negotiations for Felix with a verbal agreement already having been reached regarding a loan fee.
“Quite clearly, there’s a bit of division, a civil war, even [among] the fans,” Ballague told ITV.
“I think the club would like to put the fans in the position of pushing Simeone out and keeping Joao Felix in. but Simeone has got a big contract, they’ve got to pay him €25m (£22m) to leave. That’s not going to happen.”
Meanwhile, Daily Mail reports that former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is now favourite to take over from Simeone at Atletico should he leave and former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is their back-up option.
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
