Diego Simeone leads a training session ahead of Atletico Madrid's season-opening match against Valencia. EPA
Diego Simeone leads a training session ahead of Atletico Madrid's season-opening match against Valencia. EPA

Diego Simeone wants Atletico Madrid to resist PSG offer for 'important' Filipe Luis



Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone is determined to keep hold of full-back Felipe Luis after French champions Paris Saint-Germain submitted a bid for the Brazil international.

Luis, 33, has been Atletico's first-choice left-back since 2010, although he spent one season at Chelsea before rejoining the Spanish side in 2015.

According to report in Spanish newspaper Marca, the Brazilian was disappointed not to start his side's 4-2 Uefa Super Cup win over rivals Real Madrid on Wednesday and has asked Atletico to accept the offer from PSG.

___________

Read more:

Lionel Messi's form thrills Valverde as Barcelona start season in style

Julen Lopetegui 'loves' Real Madrid squad despite no Ronaldo replacement

___________

However, Simeone has reiterated Luis' importance to his plans and has made his thoughts perfectly clear on any potential transfer.

"All I can say about Filipe Luis is that the player knows how much we love him and how important he is for us," Simeone told a news conference ahead of Atletico's Primera Liga opener against Valencia on Monday.

"Tomorrow he will play and I'm only thinking about tomorrow's game and how important it is. I always want the best for the players who have given us so much and obviously I don't want Filipe to leave."

The speculation surrounding Luis on the eve of the Primera Liga season has added further support to Simeone's views that the Spanish transfer window should close at the start of the new domestic campaign, similar to the Premier League in England and Italy's Serie A.

"It would be better for coaches to work knowing that the transfer market ends before the league starts. It's not easy to work when there are still lots of things going on," added the Argentine.

"In other countries they have taken the initiative to shorten the transfer window and that makes everyone more calm, especially footballers who might have options to leave in their head."

Atletico finished runners-up last season and their game with Valencia, who came fourth, is the most intriguing of the opening round of fixtures in Spain.

"We'll be facing one of the most important teams in the league, a team who have never stopped growing since [manager] Marcelino arrived," Simeone said.

"They play in a similar way to us, there are obvious differences between the coaches but a lot of similarities in the two teams' structures.

"We expect a great atmosphere, a lot of people in the stadium and a lot of enthusiasm. It's a great occasion and we hope it will be a great game."

Company name: Farmin

Date started: March 2019

Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi 

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: AgriTech

Initial investment: None to date

Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs 

How much of your income do you need to save?

The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.

In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)

Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.

 

RESULTS

ATP China Open
G Dimitrov (BUL x3) bt R Bautista Agut (ESP x5)
7-6, 4-6, 6-2
R Nadal (ESP x1) bt J Isner (USA x6)
6-4, 7-6

WTA China Open
S Halep (ROU x2) bt D Kasatkina (RUS)
6-2, 6-1
J Ostapenko (LAT x9) bt S Cirstea (ROU)
6-4, 6-4

ATP Japan Open
D Schwartzman (ARG x8) bt S Johnson (USA)
6-0, 7-5
D Goffin (BEL x4) bt R Gasquet (FRA)
7-5, 6-2
M Cilic (CRO x1) bt R Harrison (USA)
6-2, 6-0

Uefa Nations League: How it works

The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.

The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.

Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.