Koke intends to retire at Atletico Madrid

Koke has signalled his intention to stay at Atletico Madrid for the rest of his career.

The 25-year-old, who came through the youth ranks at the club and made his first-team debut in 2009, has already racked up more than 200 league appearances for Atleti.

A LaLiga winner with Atletico in the 2013-14 season, Koke has no plans to leave the club despite ongoing rumours about the future of coach Diego Simeone.

“I’ve won pretty much everything here and I hope I can keep winning titles,” boyhood Atleti supporter Koke said at a club sponsor event.

“I would love to retire here. You never know in football, but it would be a lovely story, having started out here as a six-year-old.

pic.twitter.com/xhjhTWyNTM

— Koke Resurrección (@Koke6) May 18, 2017

“[The season] has been very good, we’ve met our objective of finishing in third place and qualifying for the Champions League.

“We always want to win titles, but after a difficult end to last season it wasn’t easy to get back amongst the best clubs.”

Atletico Madrid will play their last league game at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday when they lost Athletic Bilbao.

“Our new home is spectacular”
We’d like to show you the red and white team’s visit to the Wanda @Metropolitano  #GoAtleti pic.twitter.com/UOVg8hX8dB

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) May 18, 2017

And Koke, who was named in Julen Lopetegui’s latest Spain squad on Friday, hailed the stadium’s special atmosphere ahead of a move to the Wanda Metropolitano.

“[The stadium] is special because of the people,” Koke said. “They don’t come here just to watch the football, they come here to live it. 

“I came with my dad, my grandad and my brother, and I will always remember that… it’s incredible that, not so long ago, it was me supporting in the stands. Now they’re supporting me.”