'We wanted Godin to continue'

"Both us and the club wanted Godin to stay. Diego, as a result of his needs and his relationship with Atletico Madrid, came to the decision he took and explained in due course the other day. What am I going to tell you about Godín more than what I've already told you, I've always valued his time at the club. After that, both the managers and the player have their individual situations to resolve and Diego already let us know what he felt," Simeone explained about the Uruguayan central defender.

In the seven and a half years he has shared a team with him, Simenoe considered that "choosing" a single moment "would not be fair": "He is a footballer who has always given himself up and has competed, possibly in one season he could have had a better level than another, but always with a regularity that is always difficult to sustain in footballers.

"That's what has made him such an important player in this whole process. When this situation develops as clearly as possible it creates a state of happiness, because he gave us everything, he will surely continue his career in Italy, transmitting his values, his effort, his game and above all his hierarchy.

He also said, with regard to the year-to-year renewal proposed by Atlético for players already in their thirties, that "the club has a line of work and is respected. From the inside we share the decisions that the club teaches us and obviously we are behind it. Like everything in life, some make the rules and others we have to follow them," he said.

With Godin's departure, Atlético loses another of its leaders in the dressing room. "All the processes start and end and enable other people to occupy different places. Neither Gabi nor Godín nor Torres nor Raúl (García) at the age of 24 were the ones who were 32 or 33 years old, because all the history and experience that they had could be developed at an important time and that we just had to be with them," he said.

"At one point, they were 24 years old and had to do that step more to later have that moment in their sports careers. Here in the team we have footballers who will have to take one more step, like Giménez, Oblak, Rodrigo, Koke, Saúl... We have people who will grow as Godín and Gabi have grown," he said.

In addition to Godin, the red and white team has also lost Lucas Hernandez, signed by Bayern Munich. They are two of the four central defenders in the squad, along with José María Giménez and Stefan Savic. Their departures will force a reinvention in that demarcation.

Another challenge for Simeone: "I love it. Knowing how I know myself, I think the motivation we'll have for next season will be enormous, because it will be difficult like any other, possibly even more so because of the possible changes there may be.

"I also say that the people who are going to come will do it with enthusiasm, with energy, with the desire to grow and that's why we are here, so that Griezmann, Oblak, Giménez, Godín and Gabi, who at the time when we started had a player profile, are what they are at the moment, because I always explain that we are not going to sign a footballer of neither 150 nor 120 nor 100 million. We have to make the players what they are," he said.

"Lemar is the most expensive footballer Atlético has ever bought. This year has cost him. But I have no doubt that next year he will have a fantastic season. And in that way we are, looking for people with the profile that is needed at Atletico and close a season tomorrow in Wanda with enthusiasm and good game," he said.

"I'm glad to be able to finish this season winning the Supercup and coming second in La Liga. I'm really happy," he said.