Athletico Madrid keen on keeping Courtious and Costa despite Chelsea intrest
Atletico Madrid will fight to keep their best players
this summer and hope their allegiance to the team
and their charismatic coach Diego Simeone will help
ensure they remain at the Vicente Calderon.
Chelsea loanee Thibaut Courtois spoke as though he
wants to stay after the Champions League final
defeat but it is largely out of Atletico’s hands.
‘I don’t have an emotional link to Chelsea,’ said
Courtois, 22. ‘I have nothing against them. It is just
that I have this bond with Atletico after all I have
lived through with the club these last three seasons.
‘If I have to go back to Chelsea just to play FA Cup
and League Cup games, I will have to look for a
solution.’
Atletico’s chief executive, Miguel Angel Gil Marin,
has meanwhile told striker Diego Costa the club will
only sell him if he wants to leave.
Gil said: ‘We’ll try and make sure that all of the
relevant players stay here. We’ve made a very
aggressive approach for Diego to stay and we want
to keep this dream going but it all depends on him.
‘Our intention is not to sell anyone unless the player
asks to be sold. Because of our run in the
Champions League we have the money to mean we
don’t have to sell.’
Midfielder Koke and left back Filipe Luis will be other
Premier League targets. But Koke’s allegiance to the
club he has always supported and Filipe Luis’s
loyalty to Simeone could see both stay.
Simeone said: ‘We will rest a bit, watch the World
Cup and then we will be back to defend our league
title.’
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