Starting the season relatively strongly with some late winners, Chelsea’s last two games have shown a dip in form and a suggestion that Antonio Conte’s new philosophy might take a while to blossom.
The Italian manager, who was announced to become the new leader at Stamford Bridge prior to the 2016 Euros, was never really the first choice for Roman Abramovich, at least according to the European media.
The man who the Russian owner really wanted was Diego Simeone, Atlético Madrid’s current manager, who has somewhat overachieved during his time at the Spanish club and built a fantastic reputation for himself in the process.
Getting the best out of the likes of Antoine Griezmann and giving Fernando Torres some newfound belief, Simeone also helped develop Saúl Ñiguez and Koke into the very much wanted players they are today.
All of this is the reason why news breaking that the manager had reduced the length of his contract at the club was all the more shocking, leading to many questions that are yet to be completely answered.
Mundo Deportivo, however, believe they have the answers and published an eight-point feature revealing the reasons behind it, and one of them is unsurprisingly the interest Simeone has attracted from other clubs following his achievements in Madrid.
A lot was made of rumoured contact between Chelsea and the manager’s agent, his sister Natalia, but the Spanish newspaper state the club and the agent met last year in London to discuss an opportunity for her brother in London.
The agent travelling to England appears to show a certain degree of willingness from the manager’s camp regarding Chelsea’s interest, as he could have easily dismissed them straight away without a meeting being necessary.
As history now shows, the chat between agent and Russian oligarch failed to lead to anything, with Simeone still at Atlético and Conte at Chelsea.
Simeone has always made it clear he would love to manage his beloved Inter Milan one day, and with the new investment being put into the Italian club from their new Chinese owners, it wouldn’t surprise us if Italy was the former Sevilla and Lazio midfielder’s next destination.
We might have to wait a while before we see him in the Premier League.
