Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has spoken for the first time on the rumours linking the club with a potential move for Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese was actively looking to escape Manchester United this summer, after the club failed to qualify for the Champions League. An uneventful summer transfer business further pushed the forward towards forcing an exit.
While many clubs, including Chelsea, Bayern Munich, PSG, Napoli, Barcelona and his boyhood club Sorting CP registered their interest, Atletico too joined the queue. However, Ronaldo ended up staying at United as the interested parties backed out from a move for the 37-year-old. But Atletico chasing the former Real Madrid forward didn’t go well with their fans as they openly protested over a potential move. Simeone has now come forward and given an insight about what exactly happened between the club and the United attacker.
Simeone rejects and slams the rumours linking Cristiano Ronaldo with Atletico
Atletico were in dire need of a new striker, after their available options in Antoine Griezmann and Joao Felix misfired last season. With Cristiano Ronaldo on the market, the Colchoneros were enticed by the opportunity of bringing in the forward who had smashed in a staggering 311 goals in 292 La Liga appearances. The club then quickly moved on for the former Real star, as reports of his agent Jorge Mendes holding a meeting with Atletico president Enrique Cerezo in Madrid were confirmed.
However, the move backfired massively a Atletico fans raised their voice in protest against the club bringing in the former Real Madrid player who had often found himself at crossroads with them during the Madrid derby. They even held a poster which read “CR7 NOT WELCOME” during Atletico’s pre-season friendly against Numancia. Simeone’s team had regularly suffered against Cristiano, as he had bagged 22 goals against them in his time with the Los Blancos, most famously breaking their hearts in the 2013/14 and 2015/16 Champions League finals.
His 22 strikes against Atletico for Real also made him the all-time top scorer of the Madrid Derby. Cristiano Ronaldo continued his scoring habit against Atletico, netting another 3 against the them with Juventus in their Champions League ‘remontada’ in the round of 16 during the 2018/19 season. After a lot of suffering, Atletico were exploring the chance to reap rewards of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s exploits by signing him this summer, but Simeone has now dismissed the reports. He told Martin Liberman:
“Cristiano Ronaldo’s possible arrival at Atlético in the summer? The little birds told you anything far from what happened, People speak sometimes to tell what they want to tell, not reality. Ronaldo is an absolute benchmark for Real Madrid. I would not see [Martin] Palermo playing at River Plate or [Juan Román] Riquelme or [Ariel] Ortega at Boca. There are situations that are very clear.”
Diego Simeone has evidently made his feelings clear about coaching Cristiano Ronaldo at Atletico which he insists is almost unimaginable. However, that doesn’t hide the troubles he is having with his forward line which is struggling at the moment. The Los Rojiblancos after missing out on Ronaldo as a result have made Griezmann’s loan deal from Barcelona permanent for €20 million. On the other hand, the Portugal captain too is struggling with the Red Devils, having scored just 2 goals in 12 games so far and is once again slated to look for new buyer in January.