Diego Simeone ready to return to Serie A: rumor reignites debate

Diego Simeone back in Serie A? For ‘El Chiringuito de Jugones’, a program airing on Spanish broadcaster ‘Mega’, it&#8217s more than a guess. In fact, the name of the coach, this year in his 15th season at Atletico Madrid, has been very emphatically mentioned to Inter Milan, which, according to Iberian reporters, would be ready to understand the feasibility of the operation already at the end of this season, despite the fact that the expiration of the contracts of the Cholo himself and the current Nerazzurri coach, Cristian Chivu, is scheduled in both cases for June 30, 2027.

The suggestion immediately ignited debate, especially as it concerns one of the coaches-flagship European soccer. Simeone&#8217s connection with Italy is well known: El Cholo played for Pisa between 1990 and 1992, Inter between 1997 and 1999, and Lazio from 1999 to 2003, and also coached Catania in the second half of the 2010-2011 season, making an important contribution to the Etnei team&#8217s salvation. Recently, Simeone himself had also admitted that he saw himself coaching in A in an unspecified future, just at’Inter.

Francesco Lucivero

The impression, however, is that at home Inter will prefer to wait for the outcome of a season in which the Nerazzurri are still engaged on three fronts, despite the fact that qualification for the Champions League round of 16 hangs heavily in the balance after the 3-1 defeat in the 3-1 first leg of the playoff against Bodo/Glimt. Chivu has a near-perfect league run on his side and the chance to play for access to the Coppa Italia final in the double semi-final against Como.

On the other hand, Atletico Madrid is out of the running for the title in La Liga but qualification for the next Champions League should not slip away, barring a meltdown in the league final that would have the resounding. In the current Champions, the Colchoneros need to beat Bruges after the 3-3 draw in the first leg to advance to the round of 16 while in the King&#8217s Cup they swept Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of the semifinals and only an incredible Blaugrana comeback could deny them qualification to the final, where one of the two Basque big boys (Real Sociedad or Athletic Bilbao) will be.

The economic aspect is also not to be underestimated: Simeone earns more than 12 million euros net per season and is one of the highest paid coaches in the world. Chivu earns at Inter about a quarter of the same amount and, at the moment, his results are in line with the expectations of the club, which preferred a young coach to a more navigated (and economically more demanding) profile for the post-Simone Inzaghi.

The Argentine daily Sport also spoke of a formal pre-agreement between Simeone and Inter, a circumstance that, however, was not confirmed by ‘El Chiringuito de Jugones’ in which it spoke rather of a suggestion to be studied with a view to next season. Everything, however, is postponed to the coming weeks and already the upcoming results in the Champions League could outline new prospects in this regard.