Diego Simeone has confirmed Atletico Madrid’s interest in Juventus forward Carlos Tevez and believes he would be a good fit at the club.
Tevez had been mooted as a summer target for Atletico, along with Villarreal’s Luciano Vietto, and in an interview with AS, Simeone acknowledged the club is working on both signings.
“The truth is I haven’t spoken to Carlos. But I know the club is talking to his agent. I’m always excited at working with players like Tevez,” the Coach said.
“He has a lot of good things in his game: it’s in his blood, more than the amount of goals he’s able to score a season. He would be an ideal reinforcement for how football is played at Atletico.
“Vietto is an objective, both of mine and the sporting director’s department. We’re close. I hope to have him for next season because for me he is a player of extraordinary characteristics.
“I see him as very similar to David Villa when he began. He’s settled very well at Villarreal. I know him from Racing and I gave him his debut. Hopefully we can get him because he would be a major boost.”
Simeone was asked about two other strikers – Radamel Falcao and Alvaro Negredo, confirming past interest in the former, not the latter.
“It’s true we spoke with Negredo last season. He’s a player who has always interested us. We’ll see who the club opts for this year,” Cholo continued.
“Falcao hasn’t been discussed. It’s true he gave us a lot. But he’s not been on the agenda in the sporting department.
“A year ago we had 28 League goals from Diego Costa and 12 from Villa. This year it was 22 from Antoine Griezmann and 12 from Mario Mandzukic. There were no problems there.
“Raul Garcia couldn’t repeat the previous season. Fernando Torres got three goals in 19 League games. Arda Turan scored twice, Koke two. Tiago scored more goals, five. Raul Jimenez got a goal.
“We’re talking about very few goals to accompany Griezmann and Mandzukic. That was felt in the team.
“We’re thinking about Torres. He will have to compete for a place. He loves the club and he’s competitive and all he needs to do is improve.
“I said to Mandzukic he had to beat his record from Bayern Munich, 28 goals, but unfortunately he couldn’t. That hurt him. But it is thanks to him we finished third.”
