Napoli forward Giovani Simeone speaks on potential La Liga move and working under father Diego

Originally posted on Football Espana | By Ruairidh Barlow | Last updated 11/28/23

Napoli forward Giovanni Simeone has said he would be open to a move to Spain down the line, not least because it would make family gatherings easier.

Son of Diego Simeone, both of his brothers Gianluca and Giuliano play in Spain, the latter currently on loan at Alaves from his parent club, Atletico Madrid. Giovanni is in Madrid on Wednesday, as his Napoli team seek revenge for their home leg defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu, and he admitted he was open to making Spain his permanent home again.

“Luckily, I have many years left and I hope that can happen. Lots of things come back around in football, and I hope one day I can be close to my father and not have to take a plane [laughs].”

Simeone was also keen to note that he would be showing a similar fighting spirit to his father at the Bernabeu, and expected Real Madrid fans to let him know about it.

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However he was not keen on the idea of working under his father at Atletico Madrid, as he explained to Marca.

“Because it is difficult to enter a group where the coach is your father. We players are all selfish, and we can think, ‘look, there is Simeone’s son’. And if they have to talk about the coach, and I’m there… I don’t know. It’s hard to fit in as a son. As a coach it is perhaps easier to choose, if my son is good, I put him on and if he is not good, then he doesn’t play.”

The middle Simeone child has been a rotational option for most of his time at Napoli, but a useful one, coming up with some crucial goals in their Scudetto run last year. His younger brother suffered a brutal cruciate ligament injury in August in a preseason friendly for Alaves, but in theory has the best chance of appearing under his father. Giuliano did make his debut under El Cholo two seasons ago, playing stoppage time against Granada, while also making the bench on a number of occasions.

This article first appeared on Football Espana and was syndicated with permission.

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