Terry Gibson has questioned the thinking behind Diego Simeone's decision to announce he had reduced the length of his contract at Atletico Madrid.
The fervent Argentine, the most successful manager in Atleti's history, released a statement outlining plans which confirm he intends not to fulfil the remainder of his contract at the Vicente Calderon.
The development means Simeone is set to leave the club at the end of the 2017/18 season, as opposed to the end of 2019/20 campaign, which was initially agreed.
And, speaking on the La Liga weekly podcast, Gibson argued the decision to allow Simeone to make his choice public could have financial implications for the club.
He said: "I'm surprised Atletico have agreed to those terms. If they had reached a verbal agreement, the club would still have been entitled to compensation if one of the major clubs in Europe came knocking for Simeone.
"It's a strange one. It raises an interesting point about negotiations at Atletico between Simeone and the president Enrique Cerezo.
"Perhaps Simeone tells him what he wants to do - like he does with everyone else at the club - and the president just goes along with it."
In his statement, Simeone assured fans he remained 100 percent committed to Atletico, insisting "nothing had changed".
Despite this he refused to give specific reasons for his decision, leading Gibson to conclude that he feels Simeone would stick to his word.
I’m surprised Atletico have agreed to those terms. If they had reached a verbal agreement, the club would still have been entitled to compensation if one of the major clubs in Europe came knocking for Simeone.
Spanish football expert Terry Gibson
"I'm not sure what the reasons are behind this but the obvious one, you would guess, is that he doesn't intend to stay as long as we all thought," he added.
"It's not a short-term decision though, so this is still a couple of years away.
"But, I would imagine, that he does intend to leave in 2018 - that is the obvious conclusion to make from his decision to reduce the contract."
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