Koke has insisted he will not leave Atlético Madrid this summer despite Chelsea’s interest in signing the Spain midfielder.
As reported by the Guardian on Thursday, the reigning Spanish champions have acted to ward off Chelsea’s interest in Koke and his team-mate Antoine Griezmann by offering both players new contracts. Those are expected to include buyout clauses set at around £100m each.
But whereas Griezmann is thought to be open to a move to the Premier League, Koke appears happy to remain where he is.
“Yes, I will play here,” the 23-year-old told AS when asked about his future.
Koke also encouraged Atlético to re-sign the Brazil left-back Filipe Luís, who joined Chelsea for £15.8m last summer but has found his opportunities limited.
“Filipe Luís is more than a team-mate, he is a friend, so he would be welcome here,” said Koke. Atlético face Barcelona in Madrid on Sunday knowing defeat would guarantee that Luis Enrique’s side succeed them as La Liga champions. But Koke insisted his team will not be doing the visitors any favours. He said: “We hope that Barcelona don’t win the league at our ground. We want to finish in third and we’re not a side which does favours; we’ll be going out to win, as we always do.”
Meanwhile, Petr Cech’s agent has confirmed the Czech international has been given permission to discuss his future with any interested clubs. The 32-year-old has a year remaining on his contract and has been linked with moves to Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.
“Petr has a valid contract with his current club. However, I can confirm that we have been permitted by Chelsea to negotiate with interested parties,” Viktor Kolar told TalkSport. “Petr has confirmed his interest to play regularly at a top club.”
