Report – Long-Serving Atletico Madrid Manager Emerges as ‘Dream' Target For Inter Milan To Replace Simone Inzaghi
Report – Long-Serving Atletico Madrid Manager Emerges as 'Dream' Target For Inter Milan To Replace Simone Inzaghi
Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone is reportedly the 'dream' target for Inter Milan to replace the exit-bound Simone Inzaghi.
Per Spanish news outlet AS via FCInterNews, El Cholo would be a perfect replacement for the 49-year-old.
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Simone Inzaghi could leave Inter after four years to join Saudi Pro League powerhouse Al-Hilal.
Indeed, rumors have gained momentum after Nerazzurri's calamitous performance in the Champions League final.
Therefore, Beppe Marotta is preparing for life after the ex-Lazio manager.
Several names are on his shortlist, with Diego Simeone emerging as the most high-profile option.
Inter Milan Name Atletico Madrid Boss Diego Simeone Perfect Replacement for Simone Inzaghi
MADRID, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 17: Diego Simeone, Head Coach of Atletico Madrid, looks on prior to the LaLiga EA Sports match between Atletico Madrid and UD Las Palmas at Civitas Metropolitano Stadium on February 17, 2024 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Florencia)
Diego Simeone spent two years at San Siro as a player and has been touted for a managerial return for years.
However, this hypothesis has recently faded, particularly due to the 55-year-old's unparalleled loyalty to Atletico Madrid.
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Simeone is among the longest-serving managers in Europe's traditional top-five leagues.
Indeed, he has been with Los Colchoneros since 2011, while his current contract runs out in 2027.
As such, luring him away from the Metropolitano Stadium this summer would be nearly impossible.
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Emery, Vidagany and Monchi: Inside Aston Villa's power triangle
'What makes him so good is that his intuition is second to none,' says agent Kenneth Asquez. He's describing Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo, better known in football as Monchi and a man he has known for more than two decades. Monchi is among football's most renowned sporting directors, having successfully transitioned from a nine-year playing career as Sevilla's backup goalkeeper to an administrative position at that La Liga club, where he worked with a manager named Unai Emery. Advertisement They were reunited in June 2023 when Monchi joined Aston Villa, having been at Sevilla together from 2013 to 2016, and they have now formed a 'triangle of power' alongside the club's director of football operations, Damian Vidagany. Ahead of an important summer for Villa, The Athletic spoke to more than 20 people, including agents, coaches, executives and other staff, to better understand the balance of power at the club and how it impacts transfer strategy… Emery, Monchi and Vidagany share an extremely close relationship. Their offices at Bodymoor Heath, Villa's training ground, connect and the three of them eat breakfast and lunch together most days. 'Monchi and Vidagany spend so much time with Emery that they know what he thinks and what he wants,' says Asquez. 'What used to happen in England was that managers saw a sporting director as a threat. If you're a proper sporting director, you're not a threat, you're an asset. It's to help the workload.' Multiple sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, joked that whenever you see Monchi, invariably Vidagany is not far behind — and vice versa. 'Monchi goes everywhere with Damian because his English is not very good,' says one friend. Vidagany also accompanies Emery to media interviews and helps translate any questions he does not fully grasp. Though Monchi's still working on his English, he is unafraid to speak in front of audiences. Before Champions League fixtures last season, there would be a meal attended by executives from the two teams. Monchi would make a speech at these gatherings, welcoming opponents to the Midlands. He is described as an emotional and reactive character, yet quieter than Vidagany. 'Monchi's a philosopher,' one agent remarks. 'He references history, philosophy and religious books during meetings. He's a very religious deep-thinker.' Advertisement 'The football side of the club is brilliant. The Spanish are gents and top class,' one senior executive at another Premier League club tells The Athletic. While Emery is an affable figure, his huge workload means he prefers to concentrate solely on his Villa team. This is when Monchi and Vidagany step in and, especially in the latter's case, provide the conduit. The pair are responsible for keeping the club's owners, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, briefed and helping direct them on decisions. (Head of emerging talent and loans, Adam Henshall, is involved in some meetings and is highly thought of, too, with agents stating he could one day be an effective sporting director.) Several people we spoke to described Villa as 'two clubs' — the football department and the off-field management. The football side has amassed significant autonomy to make all sporting decisions. They work from the main building at Bodymoor Heath, just outside Birmingham. Off-field employees are dotted around the country, including Villa's central London office near Oxford Circus. The power base at Villa is different from that at Sevilla, when Emery and Monchi won three Europa Leagues in as many seasons. Fundamentally, authority was more evenly split there. With Villa, Monchi's role is to facilitate Emery's wishes. This was made clear last summer when he listed four key objectives. 'First, to find a solution for the PSR (the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules). That's the most important,' Monchi said in September 2024. 'Second, to have a younger squad. Three, to have a deeper squad. And the fourth is to be aligned with what Unai wants.' 'Monchi would tell you openly that the best manager he's had at Sevilla was Unai,' says a close contact of the sporting director, 'because he's the manager who would get the highest performance out of players and that allowed him to sell at peak prices. He (Monchi) was more in charge at Sevilla, but now his role is to assist and provide Emery with options.' Advertisement That said, Monchi does have a leading influence when signing 'project players' — ones who may be initially unknown to Emery. Especially during a transfer window, Monchi — who is supported by family members working at the club, such as his son, Alejandro — will be spotted on his phone at all hours, even taking calls outside the Villa dressing room after matches, or in regular meetings abroad with players' families and agents. Broadly speaking, his approach has two recruitment phases: gross tracking and net tracking. The former is in the months before a window, scouting widely to forge a picture of the standout players. Gradually, this is refined into a definitive list of players to pursue as the process moves into the net tracking phase. Player tracking includes studying home and away games, against varying strengths of opposition and also international matches if applicable, with Monchi leaning on members of his recruitment team to watch players at different stages (seeing them six or seven times), hoping to remove biases and ensure neutrality. '(Former Brazil full-back) Dani Alves wasn't picked out with data before he joined Sevilla,' says a close contact of Monchi. 'That was through watching him. He has a large but close circle of friends whom he trusts and they would tip him off. He doesn't use data to point the finger at a player. The data is information that allows him to be present at many stadiums. 'Monchi went to sign Kevin-Prince Boateng at Hertha Berlin, but the asking fee was more than what Sevilla wanted to pay. On the way home from Germany, Monchi stopped in France and they bought an unknown Lens player called Seydou Keita. A year later, he joined Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.' Vidagany and Monchi are integral cogs in the overall operation, but they are assisted by a cohort of analysts, scouts and recruitment staff. In the wake of global director of football development Johan Lange and head of scouting Rob MacKenzie moving to Tottenham Hotspur in October 2023, along with some other personnel, Villa remain in the process of revamping their scouting system. One change under Monchi is that department staff are now being asked to focus on specific regions. Under the previous regime, it was more fluid, with them mixing across different parts of the world. Advertisement Villa are also reshaping the upstairs rooms at Bodymoor Heath. The plan is to move the data insights department into the office next to Monchi, encouraging effective collaboration and making it easier to discuss private matters. Head of recruitment Bryn Davies is in charge of the data team and their work feeds into Monchi. Emery, Monchi, Davies and the latter's staff will present and discuss potential signings. Vidagany does not have a say on which players Villa bring in, his job is to act on who the recruitment personnel decide to go for. After Emery speaks on the positions he wants, those targets are then whittled down. It is not uncommon for Villa's recruitment team to initially have a hundred possible targets for one position. Emery will select a few who interest him and ask for further checks. At other times, he will bring a player to their attention. Data is important, but it's used to inform, not dictate. It can help flag players who are on the system, which, if the numbers are good, allows Villa to watch them live, accompanied by background checks on their character, mentality and whether they suit Emery's environment. In the case of Marcus Rashford, their winter-window loan signing from Manchester United, Villa made calls to close observers. Background checks came back favourably. Monchi and Davies are deft at discussing targets with Emery, who will, at times, cede ground if some of the players he wants do not show up well on reports. Emery tends not to care how old they are or what league they play in, so long as they are good enough. If a player he does not know is presented well to him — Jhon Duran's acquisition from Chicago Fire of MLS at age 19 being a case in point — he will sanction the move. Like Emery, Monchi is receptive to the new wave of data if the case is presented effectively. Often, the best way to do this is with presentations using fewer words and more images. He will, however, challenge the numbers shown to him. He then has a wealth of connections to take mooted deals forward. 'He is absolutely spot-on and has an aura,' says one colleague. 'He is the best I've worked with and has a good heart.' Vidagany is Emery's eyes and ears, a bridge between all footballing departments and between the dressing room and management. He met Emery at Valencia, where he was manager from 2008 to 2012. Vidagany, a journalist in his previous life, worked in the club's media and marketing section. Today, his office sits between the manager's and Monchi's. Advertisement 'Damian can make people feel 10 feet tall,' a Villa employee says. 'He is a great communicator, can put an arm round a player, explaining why they were left out, or rave about their performances.' Vidagany wants every staff member to enjoy coming into work. If they do, he reasons they will be more effective at their jobs, more accepting of long hours and create an upwardly mobile culture. Staff approach him with issues or just to chat. To boost morale, he encourages regular internal promotions to ensure the British workers feel as valued as Emery's Spanish contingent. This is to guard against any sense of a divide at Villa. In truth, Vidagany's remit is all-encompassing, ranging from meetings when Emery organises them — sometimes at short notice and sometimes when he has to be strong enough to calm the manager down — to discussing logistical dilemmas around Bodymoor Heath or knowing the costs of renovations. He also takes seriously the need to defend Villa when they sense they are under external scrutiny. Last season, Vidagany regularly posted online after he felt Villa were under pressure from other clubs or on the wrong end of officiating decisions. Vidagany is in charge of negotiations, which is regarded as his strongest attribute, but he is also an engaging, talkative character and makes an effort to invite contacts to the training ground for breakfast or lunch. 'He is a great host,' says one agent. 'Damian has a good awareness of players' emotions. He has apologised to players in the past if he feels Villa have made an error, but doesn't sugarcoat anything.' 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New York Times
an hour ago
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How will Barcelona's financial situation affect their transfers this summer?
Barcelona's 2024-25 campaign was thrilling on the pitch — but there were equally dramatic twists and turns off it. Hansi Flick's team won a domestic treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Supercopa de Espana titles while falling agonisingly short in the Champions League semi-finals against Inter. At the same time, we saw the club once again scramble to deal with their deep financial problems and La Liga's strict salary cap rules. Advertisement The most dramatic situation came during the January transfer window, when Spanish government intervention was required for Barca to field attacking midfielder Dani Olmo and back-up forward Pau Victor for the second half of last season. Further drama appears very likely this summer, with Barca president Joan Laporta insisting the team should be able to sign players as normal, while his La Liga counterpart Javier Tebas says the Catalans still have big financial issues to resolve. Ahead of the end of the club's financial year on June 30, The Athletic sums up the current nature of Barca's situation and attempts to predict what may happen between now and the end of the transfer window in late August… as well as explaining why a set of VIP seats at the Camp Nou could be key. On May 19, Laporta told Catalan TV3 show 'La Nit dels Campions' that Barca's total income for the 2024-25 season would be 'around €950million' ($1billion or £802m at current exchange rates) and predicted that their budget for 2025-26 would be 'more than €1bn'. Asked whether new signings would be arriving, Laporta was coy but suggested the squad would be strengthened. 'First we have to assess what we have, and then we'll reinforce some positions,' Laporta replied. Sporting director Deco and Flick have both spoken about adding more attacking players to the squad, while Laporta told TV3 that goalkeeper was a position they were looking at. Espanyol 'keeper Joan Garcia is Barca's top target, as The Athletic reported in Barca's Transfer DealSheet on Tuesday. For some years now, the problem for Barca has not been finding significant money to buy players, but registering many of these signings with La Liga. The problem for Barca is that they have yet to really resolve the club's past financial problems — including at least €1.3bn of debt from when Laporta returned as president in 2021. Another issue is that the short-term solutions — often called levers — previously deployed to raise money to spend on transfers have not always been accepted by La Liga, who want the club to be run in a more sustainable way. Barca have regularly viewed this as unfair limitation on their activities, and looked to find creative ways to register players — such as when Olmo and Victor were registered for the first half of the 2024-25 campaign using a rule that allows for the temporary replacement of players ruled out through long-term injuries (in that case defender Andreas Christensen). Advertisement Last April, the Spanish government's High Council of Sports (CSD) sports court forced La Liga to register Olmo and Victor to play for Barca for the remainder of 2024-25. That CSD ruling did not question Spanish football's financial controls, but stated the joint committee formed by La Liga and the Spanish football federation (RFEF) did not have the power to revoke Olmo and Victor's licenses in early January. La Liga has confirmed to The Athletic this means the pair are now registered to play for Barca in La Liga until the end of their contracts in 2030 (Olmo) and 2029 (Victor) — although a La Liga appeal of that CSD decision to a different court has yet to be heard. Meanwhile, La Liga maintains Barca did not have space in their current salary limit to register Olmo and Victor back in January. Adding the 'cost' of these two players to their squad means that Barca exceeded their permitted salary limit. So their room for manoeuvre this summer will be limited unless they can raise more money — either through selling players or growing the club's income. Through autumn 2024, Barca's club hierarchy tried various ways to raise money required to register Olmo and Victor permanently with La Liga. A new kit deal with Nike helped, but was not enough. Barca even took a legal case against the regulations to a Catalan court but were unsuccessful. In December, Barca's board decided to sell future revenues from 475 VIP seats at the revamped Camp Nou, which remains under construction, as another new 'lever'. Few details of what the club called a new Personal Seat License (PSL) business model were made public, but Laporta said in mid-January that this raised €100m from two different investors. This includes €70m from the UAE-based New Era Visionary Group (NEVG) owned by Moldovan businessman Ruslan Birladeanu, and €30m from the Qatari-backed, UK-based investment fund Forta Advisors Limited. Nuevas fotos del Spotify Camp Nou 🏟️ — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) June 3, 2025 Barca had already received the entire €30m sum from the Qatari investors and 40 per cent of the remainder (€28m), Laporta said in the mid January press conference. Barca said when announcing the deal that both sets of investor groups had been subject to a mandatory review before the deal, and received positive reports from the club's Compliance Department and Economic Commission. In early April, La Liga questioned the financing of these deals, saying they had been certified by an unnamed auditor back in January. La Liga also said Barca's previous auditors, Grant Thornton, did not mention the €100m in its financial update on the club filed in December, nor did the new auditors, Crowe Global, mention the new income in its report to the league in early April. Barca responded with 'surprise and indignation', claiming that making public such information was 'inappropriate' and that Tebas' public comments on the matter were aimed at 'destabilising' Barca. Reports in the Catalan media have said that the 475 VIP seats (a small part of the 9,400 VIP seats the Camp Nou will have when complete) must be built for the current auditors to count this money within the club's 2024-25 accounts. Advertisement Barca did not reply when asked for details on this, but Laporta told Jijantes in mid-May, 'The (VIP seats) are done. Probably, they can be taken into account starting this month. We need to remember that La Liga fixes the salary limit when they receive our budgets.' In early June, La Liga said it had not received any details about the money coming from the sale of the VIP seats and so have not been able to include it yet within salary limit calculations for the coming season. Barca have previously experienced issues trying to register new contracts given to their best youngsters when they were struggling with La Liga's salary cap. The bumper new contract recently signed with Lamine Yamal, which runs until 2031 and makes the 17-year-old one of the club's top earners will not be endangered by any issues over the salary limit. Key here is a change made to La Liga's rules last November, which allows clubs to improve the contracts of young players whose performances at senior level mean their value has substantially increased. The idea is to ensure emerging stars at clubs in financial difficulties are not immediately tempted away by the offer of pay rises elsewhere. The amount paid 'above' the current club's salary limit to this young player is then subtracted from the total available for wages and transfers in future years. So no matter what happens with the VIP seats or anything else this summer, Barca fans can be assured Yamal is tied to the Camp Nou long term. Although adding his bumper new salary — at potentially €40m a year — now means even less wiggle room in coming seasons. The first 'levers' pulled by Laporta's board were the sale of 25 per cent of Barca's future La Liga TV rights in 2022 for a total of €400m. That means Barca make season-on-season payments of around €40m a season to U.S. investors Sixth Street. More complex is the Barca Studios/Barca Vision project, which Laporta's board had previously viewed as an asset that strengthened the club's financial situation. In August 2023, it was ambitiously valued at $1billion. Advertisement Last October, with money counted on from past investors in the project not having arrived, Barca's previous auditors mandated the value of the Barca Studios/Barca Vision asset be partly written down. This meant that instead of a €12m profit, the club's 2023-24 loss accounts actually showed an overall net loss of €91m. Unless new investors are found for the project — now known as Barca Media — the current auditors will have to decide whether another write-down is required for the 2024-25 accounts. Should this happen, La Liga's rules mean the salary limit for 2025-26 would likely need to be lowered. Asked about this issue, Barca told The Athletic that any new partners for Barca Media would be communicated using the club's official channels. Another unknown is a new Barca Mobile arm of the club's commercial activities, a virtual mobile operator where users pay for roaming data plans via Barca's website, which was launched in April 2025. Laporta predicted it would be a 'goldmine' for the club. The club's main partner in Barca Mobile is NEVG, the same group owned by Moldovan businessman Birladeanu which bought a chunk of the VIP seats at the new Camp Nou. NEVG's only business activities, per its website, are the contracts it has with Barca. Predicting Barca transfer windows is generally difficult, and even many of those involved behind the scenes have been surprised by events during previous summers. About €42m of the money being paid by NEVG for its share of future VIP revenues has yet to be received by Barcelona. Catalan media reports have suggested Birladeanu will facilitate another payment by June 30, so it can be included in the 2024-25 final accounts, but it remains to be seen whether this will actually happen. Asked about this possibility by The Athletic, Barca declined to comment, and NEVG did not reply. Barca will also be looking to raise money and open space in their salary limit by moving on unwanted players — including Ansu Fati, Clement Lenglet and Inaki Pena. Other more important squad members could potentially be sold, with defender Ronald Araujo and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen the subject of transfer speculation over their futures. Barca will want to bring in enough money to bring themselves below their squad salary limit. That would mean they can spend any funds raised, rather than being forced by La Liga's rules to put a significant percentage (around half) towards paying off past debts. This is known as the 1:1 rule in Spain, given clubs can spend a euro for every euro they raise. Advertisement 'I believe we'll be able to sign players, we'll be at '1:1', and I hope we stay like that for many years,' Laporta told Jijantes. 'It's true we were pretty tight, so what we have to do is keep working. It's always difficult, as the 'fair play' rules are, let's say, 'sui generis' (unique). The regulations are open to interpretation. We'll have to keep fighting. It won't be easy, but that way it'll be even sweeter when we do it.' More 'fighting' over the interpretation of the salary limit rules looks likely. That will not be easy, given relations with La Liga were strained even before the Olmo/Victor saga. 'I hope Barca can be 1:1 next window, but you'd have to ask them if they can do that,' Tebas told The Athletic in April. 'They know what they have to do, and we hope it does not happen 48 hours before the window closes in August. We hope not to have any more surprises.' (Top image: Flick and Laporta. Javier Borrego/Europa Press via Getty Images)
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Champions League final: a landmark achievement for Désiré Doué! 🤯
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