Atletico Madrid Boss Diego Simeone Reveals the Reason He Remained at the Club

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone revealed that he reason he remained with the club was because they reached an agreement that they wouldn't sell any players during the summer transfer window.

Atletico were banned from signing any players this summer due to breaching the regulations regarding signing foreign players under the age of 18. Simeone claims that when he received the message explaining that they could not buy anyone, he pleaded with the club not to sell players and, according to Goal, that's the reason he signed his contract.

Simeone said: "When I got the message that the club could not make any signings, the only thing I asked the club is not to sell anyone. That's how it was. That's why we continue to be together."

The Argentine manager claims that he would rather keep hold of his star players than sell them and have the money to bring in new talent. With the restriction on the club of buying players this summer, it was imperative for the La Liga side and Simeone that they retained the big players at the club.

Simeone explained: "If they put me in a situation where they said Griezmann, Saul and Koke would go and we would have a lot of money and we would have to go looking for players, or none of these will go and we cannot sign anyone, I have no doubt I would have chosen the second, because they are extraordinary players."

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He added: "When there are extraordinary players there is always room for improvement. The arrival of guys who were on loan made us good, or the improvement of players like [Stefan] Savic, [Kevin] Gameiro, [Sime] Vrsaljko, [Nicolas] Gaitan, who this year have more chances to prove why they are at this club."

Simeone, since the signing of his new contract, is tied to the club until 2020 and is excited at the prospect of pressing forward and the move to their new stadium - the Wanda Metropolitano - is an important step.

He said: "The club has been growing a lot since we started in 2011 and I have always seen the possibility of enormous improvement."

He continued: "Many said to me, 'Well, you're going to renew with Atleti again, who've always had problems, and the next season will not be good,' and I never believed that."