The Argentine coach spoke ahead of Atletico's La Liga clash with Getafe CF today, just days after his side moved close to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with victory over Tottenham. Despite the result, much of the discussion centred on Alvarez after he admitted he could not guarantee he would still be at the club next season.

The forward has been linked with clubs including FC Barcelona and Arsenal FC, and his brief comments after the match quickly sparked headlines.

Simeone, however, made it clear he was frustrated by the attention placed on speculation rather than Atletico's results.

"I understand all your questions," Simeone said referring to the win against Club Brugge in February. "We beat Club Brugge and the talk was about Jan Oblak making a save. We beat Barcelona and the headline is that Antoine Griezmann might leave. Griezmann is staying with us and will play in the final."

He added: "We won again and now the question is whether Julian might leave or stay. Julian made some statements the other day, correct statements in my view, and he's giving us a lot. I'm speaking to our people now, not the journalists. We're in a good place. I told them we would compete, and we are competing at the end of the season."

Simeone also addressed the situation of summer signing Alex Baena, who has struggled for minutes recently. The midfielder has played only 21 minutes across Atletico's last four matches, raising questions about his role in the squad.

The Atletico boss insisted the player still had an important future at the club but demanded improvement.

"He's an extraordinary player," Simeone said. "We've spoken about it several times. We need him to raise his level of play, and when that happens he's exceptional. He can play in many positions. It depends on him, and he will continue to give us great things."

While speculation continues around Alvarez and others, Simeone's message was clear: Atletico's focus remains on performances and finishing the season strongly.

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