Diego Simeone makes his future clear following fresh Chelsea speculation — report

Transfer rumors are a fact of life in modern football, and at Chelsea, under Roman Abramovich’s reign, so are managerial rumors. Like clockwork, they start up almost every year, if not every six months or even six days. As Conte has become fond of saying, the rumors surrounding him date back to at least the start of the season, though in reality they started well before then, just a couple months into his tenure.

Eventually, Conte will leave, either by choice or force; this is known. This is also a fact of life at Chelsea, or any other professional club in the world. He remains adamant that won’t be for at least 18 months, but even best laid plans can go awry. And the situation at Chelsea is certainly far from ideal at the moment.

With rumors continuing apace, potential replacements are starting to come out of the woodwork as well. Former Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique seems to be the front-runner, though newly hip Maurizio Sarri has emerged over the past day as a strong possible candidate as well. And there is always the chance for another old coach to return in Carlo Ancelotti.

One name who, according to the Times, has taken himself out of the running however is Atlético Madrid boss Diego Simeone, who’s been repeatedly linked with a potential Chelsea vacancy for the past few seasons. But the former Atletico and Inter Milan player is apparently only willing to manage those two teams.

Simeone’s reasons for turning down the Chelsea job before it was even offered are supposedly because he’s not keen on the whole English language or lifestyle, preferring to stay in a country with a “Latin lifestyle”, whatever that means.

So there you go, Chelsea “snubbed” by a coach who wasn’t offered a job that is not available. Oh no!

Despite all the speculation, Conte’s job doesn’t seem to be under any actual immediate threat. Things like that can change rather quickly, but for now, the only worry should be winning on Monday against Watford.