According to reports from AS, Diego Simeone and Jose Mourinho may end up ‘trading places’ as Atletico Madrid and Chelsea managers.
The Blues suffered their seventh Premier League defeat of the season on Saturday, losing 1-0 to Stoke City in Mourinho’s absence due to a one-match stadium ban, and now find themselves at 16th place in the league table – just three points above the relegation zone.
Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, are third in La Liga and Simeone enjoys arguably more support than ever; the fans and the board well aware that the club has performed beyond its means since the Argentine’s appointment in 2011.
But the 45 year-old has been strongly linked with two major jobs this season; the potential vacancy at Stamford Bridge, should Chelsea’s results not improve, and the Albiceleste hot seat. The theory is that the Argentina FA want to oust Tata Martino ‘as soon as possible‘ after overseeing a defeat in the 2015 Copa America final.
Consequentially, AS claim that Mourinho could find himself replacing Simeone at Vincente Calderon, describing him as a ‘prime candidate’ for the Mattress Makers despite ties with bitter rivals Real Madrid. You can find the latest manager betting offer here.
A manager swap would certainly save Chelsea unnecessary expenditure. According to The Metro, it would cost them £10million to sack Mourinho and £15million to release Simeone from his Atletico contract.