Atlético de Madrid are about to make Diego Simeone the highest paid member of the squad. No one else at the Calderón is more highly valued than the stellar coach.

The club's plans hinge on the Argentine and it's another sign of how highly the head honchos regard him. Nobody is more important to the club than 'El Cholo'. None of the players, not Koke, currently the highest paid player in the squad, Mario Mandzukic, Fernando Torres, or even Antoine Griezmann can outshine their manager.

As a result, Simeone stands to go from earning just over €2.5 million to receiving a staggering €6 million per season, which would put him up with the top six best paid managers in the world. His reputation has gone from strength to strength fuelled by good results and silverware. That's how the club understands it, as does the man himself, and his new contract will reflect that.

Simeone's salary will propel him to the upper crust as far as La Liga managers are concerned, just below Carlo Ancelotti. In the rest of Europe only five other coaches will earn more than him: Josep Guardiola (12 million), José Mourinho (€10.2 million), Arsène Wenger (€8.2 million), Ancelotti (€7.5 million) and Manuel Pellegrini (€6.6 million).

Nevertheless, the new deal is not all about money. Simeone wants a team that he's happy with, which he feels will keep on developing each season and will be able to take on any opposition.