Chelsea have completed a last-ditch deadline day deal to sign Saul Niguez on loan from Atletico Madrid until the end of the campaign.
The Blues will pay an initial loan fee of around £3.4m and have the option to sign the midfielder permananetly for £30m in 12 months’ time.
Chelsea fans were made to wait for confirmation of Saul’s move and an announcement arrived just before midnight, with clubs given an hour after the deadline to lodge all of the necessary paperwork.
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‘I am very excited to start this new challenge with Chelsea,’ Saul told Chelsea’s website. ‘Blues fans, I am one of you now and I can’t wait to wear the shirt, start training and see all of you. See you soon!’
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia is confident they have added a ‘proven winner’ to the team and believes the player has all the attributes to help the club achieve their targets this campaign.
‘We welcome Saul to the club and believe he completes our squad as we compete for honours in five different competitions this season,’ she said.
‘He is a proven winner, a player with huge experience and we know he will be very well-suited to the challenges that face us on all fronts in the coming year.’
The Spain international is yet to leave Madrid but is expected to fly to London over the coming 48 hours.
Thomas Tuchel had been intent on bolstering his midfield to boost Chelsea’s title hopes for the season ahead and Saul adds yet more quality to a team already boasting players like Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Kovacic and Mason Mount.
Saul scored 43 goals in 340 matches across his decade-long spell in Atleti’s first-team since graduating from the club’s academy.
