Inter Milan prepared to spend big money for Diego Simeone
Mired in 12th place in Serie A, Inter Milan fired manager Frank De Boer on Tuesday before he could even reach 100 days with the club.
Stefano Vecchi will take charge on an interim basis, but a source close to the club says the coach Inter really wants is Atlético Madrid’s Diego Simeone, a former Inter player who has said that he wants to coach in Italy at some point. Simeone played at Inter from 1997-1999 and followed that with a Serie A stint at Lazio until 2003.
Simeone won’t be available until the summer of 2018, when his Atleti contract expires. It was initially slated to go until 2020, as had been agreed upon in March, but it was reduced by two years to 2018 last month.
Soccer Managers: When they were players
Antonio Conte, Chelsea
Carlo Ancelotti, Bayern Munich
Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid
Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid
Jurgen Klinsmann, U.S. men's national team
Jurgen Klinsmann, U.S. men's national team
Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool
Luis Enrique, Barcelona
Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham
Joachim Low, Germany
Patrick Vieira, New York City FC
Pep Guardiola, Manchester City
Pep Guardiola, Manchester City; Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid
Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid
Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid
Didier Deschamps, France
Ronald Koeman, Everton
Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine
I’m told that Inter’s owner, the Chinese company Suning, is prepared to pay Simeone €15 million ($16.5 million) a year after taxes to bring him in at that point.
In the meantime, I'm also told that former Swansea manager Francesco Guidolin is set to interview for the Inter job on Thursday.