Diego Forlan signs contract

Diego Forlan has signalled his intention to see out his career with Atletico Madrid after signing a two-year contract extension that will keep him in the Spanish capital until the summer of 2013.

Forlan was Europe’s most prolific striker last season with 32 league goals and has been rewarded with a new deal that will take him beyond his 34th birthday.

The former Manchester United and Villarreal frontman, whose previous deal expired in 2011, reached an agreement over the extension with the Primera Division club some weeks ago but did not put pen to paper until today.

Forlan told club website: ”I’m very happy with the renewal. I’ve always said, since I arrived at this club, that I was very happy and that it was my hope to stay at Atletico for many years. It’s a dream to be able to extend my contract for two more years. I’m convinced that we can obtain titles in this time.”

The news will come as a boost to new Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores, who joined the club last month following the sacking of Abel Resino but has been unable to reverse the dismal run of form which seen them drop into La Liga’s relegation zone and crash out of the Champions League.

Performances have at least been better under Sanchez Flores – a 6-0 hammering of Marbella in the Copa del Rey last night being a good case in point – and Forlan believes better days lie ahead at the Vicente Calderon.

”The club and my team-mates and I will do everything possible to win everything possible, although now the most important thing is to get out of the situation that we are in,” he continued. ”Soon we will be in the places where we should be.

”I’m confident that the improvement will bring good results. Nobody should doubt that we (the players) are the first people who want to turn this situation around.”