Diego Simeone reveals Rodrigo De Paul ‘only wanted to join Atletico Madrid‘ and explains why the La Liga giants signed the Argentinean midfielder from Udinese.
Los Colchoneros have secured the services of the Argentinean playmaker who has moved to the Wanda Metropolitano on a €35m deal from Udinese.
There were reports that Simeone had to convince De Paul to move to Atletico, but the coach revealed there was no reason to do so.
“I don’t call all the players. When De Paul called me, he said: ‘Look Cholo, I’ve already told the club that Atletico is the only team I want to join.’ So, I just told him: ‘I’ll see you in 20 days’, and here he is,” Simeone said in an interview with Marca.
De Paul had joined Udinese from Valencia in a €10m dal in 2016. He scored 34 goals and delivered 36 assists in 184 games at the Dacia Arena.
“He was playing as a left-winger at the beginning of his playing career,” Simeone continued.
“He has developed at Udinese and I associate his characteristics with the fact that we have players like Koke, Herrera or Lemar.
“We need players who can take that step building up into attack, controlling the tempo, so that wingers and strikers can attack.
“Today, it’s difficult if midfielders don’t score goals. Look at Spain, they had a great tournament [EURO 2020], but goals must come from somewhere.
“It’s hard to think Llorente will score 12 goals again, so we need to add those of Saul, Lemar and De Paul.”