Chelsea have officially confirmed the signing of midfielder Saul Niguez from Atletico Madrid on transfer deadline day. The 26-year-old has moved to Stamford Bridge on a season-long loan for a fee of 4 million euros, but the Blues do have the option to make the deal permanent for 35m euros in the summer.
Niguez has been at Atleti for more than a decade, working his way through the youth ranks and has made over 300 appearances for Los Colchoneros during his stint in the Spanish capital. He has been capped by Spain at various youth levels and was part of their U19 European Championship winning team back in 2012.
Niguez joins club record signing Romelu Lukaku and goalkeeper Marcus Betinelli as the Blues’ only major summer signings this season. Thomas Tuchel’s men have however begun their new campaign well and are yet to be defeated in the league. In their last game before the international break, they survived a full half with ten men to manage a creditable draw against Liverpool at Anfield.
The summer window has seen several players leave the Bridge- the likes of Tammy Abraham, Olivier Giroud, Fikayo Tomori, Victor Moses, Kurt Zouma and Marc Guehi have all departed the club, but the transfer fees from their sales means that the Blues have virtually spent nothing this window despite splashing out a whopping £97m on Belgian forward Lukaku.
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