Diego Simeone seems confident Moussa Dembele will be an Atletico Madrid player for too long.
Atletico Madrid are close to signing Moussa Dembele from Lyon, Diego Simeone has confirmed.
The striker is expected to move to Wanda Metropolitano on a loan deal with a buy option, after he told Lyon he wanted a new challenge.
The deal has not yet been finalized but Simeone seems confident that the move will be completed sooner rather than later.
“It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it’s very progressive,” the Atletico coach told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s game with Sevilla.
“I’m going to turn my head towards the game, and that’s what’s interesting to me, and when there’s something [on Dembele], if there is anything, I will comment. “
It is reported that Atleti Dembele will be able to secure a € 33 million (£ 29.6m / $ 40.1m) fee if he is affected by a loan before the end of the season.
The French Under-21 international has scored just once in 16 Ligue 1 games this season, having hit 24 in 46 across all competitions in 2019-20.
Simeone’s biggest concern is Tuesday’s game with Julen Lopetegui’s side, which comes after Atleti’s previous game with Athletic Bilbao was postponed.
The match, which was to take place in Madrid on Saturday, was postponed after Storm Filomena fell sharply in the Spanish capital.
Training was severely disrupted over the weekend and Atleti will hold an extra session before facing Sevilla to make sure they are fully prepared.
“With the problems we’ve had, everyone has been at home,” Simeone said. “We had no choice of getting together or leaving the house. We were working at home on Saturday; on Sunday, it was possible for a group to train together.
“There are no apologies. They are a situation we need to change. The most important thing will be tomorrow and what has happened in the past will not matter in terms of the criticism and comments we receive.
“There will be two training sessions because tomorrow we will have another one at noon to finish what we have to do, making the most of the game in the evening.
“[The pitch] very well. It looks great, with a normal setting to compete and I’m sure there will be no problems with the surface. “
Simeone also confirmed that Kieran Trippier is “very good, he is excited to play, with focus as ever” after being sacked to play.
The full-back was hit by a 10-game ban by the Football Association due to a breach of betting rules, but has been allowed to reappear in La Liga after FIFA suspended his penalty among other players. -application from Atletico.