Giuliano was born in Rome while his father was playing for Lazio, but returned to Argentina when still young.
When he was eight years old, spending time with his dad in the coastal resort of Mar del Plata, Simeone senior took that call from Atletico Madrid.
He explained to The Coaches’ Voice, external: “I told him: ‘Look, the chance has come to go to Atletico Madrid and I don’t know what to do.’ And he says to me: “Are you going to manage Falcao? Falcao was there then. ‘Are you going to play against Messi? Against Ronaldo?’.
“The kid was saying all this to me and I would say ‘yes’. And, in between dipping the croissant in the milk, he said to me: ‘Dad, but if you do well, you won’t come back.’ On the one hand that’s lucky. But, on the other, it’s unlucky, because I don’t get to see my kids growing up.”
Now, however, Simeone has been joined by all three of his sons in Europe. Giuliano and Gianluca, who plays for fourth-tier Rayo Majadahonda, are in Madrid, while Giovanni, the eldest, plays for Napoli.
Forlan, whose father Pablo was also a Uruguay international, says it is natural they wanted to follow in his footsteps.
“It’s part of your DNA, in your blood,” he explains. “You have been brought up focusing on football. You have seen your father play, seen your father travel.
“Simeone, as a father, has the opportunity to manage his son and no one is saying ‘oh no, his son is playing there because his father is a coach’.
“No. He is having great performances and that will be of great satisfaction for himself and for his father.”
Continue his recent form in his first Madrid derby on Saturday, and the red-and-white half of the Spanish capital will all share in that satisfaction, too.
