The Spanish midfielder switched to the European champions with a deadline day loan move from Atletico Madrid.
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Saul Niguez managed to complete his loan move to Chelsea on the final day of the transfer window in sensational fashion. He was being linked with a few teams in the transfer window, with Chelsea appearing to be the frontrunners to get his signature. As the transfer window progressed on and nothing concrete came from Saul’s transfer saga, fans were briefly unsure if the midfielder would join the London club. However, the Spanish midfielder switched to the European champions with a deadline day loan move from Atletico Madrid. The 26-year-old completed his switch from the Spanish capital late on Tuesday night before flying into London on Wednesday and checking in at the Surrey training base for the first time.
He will hope to make his Chelsea debut in the clash at home to Aston Villa next weekend. When asked what it means for him to be at the London club, Saul Niguez told the club’s website, “I am so happy to be here. It was a great opportunity for myself and for my career. I had to take the chance to be here at Chelsea so I’m very happy and very excited. I’m really looking forward to training and, most importantly, to start working with my coach.”
While talking about the final few days of the transfer window, Saul said that he simply could not turn down Chelsea when they came calling for him. “I’ve spent 15 years at Atletico Madrid, it’s my home. And then, when the opportunity to join Chelsea came up, I couldn’t turn it down,” Saul Niguez added.
“The last day of the transfer window was crazy but in the end I could come here, as we all were hoping, so I have to seize this chance. Since I was a child, I always had two goals – to make history at Atletico Madrid and to play in the Premier League, not only because of the league itself but also for its culture and the language.
“The language is a big challenge for me and I want to learn it as soon as possible in order to be able to communicate with my team-mates simply and comfortably. At Atletico I used to speak with [Kieran] Trippier but my English isn’t good enough. I don’t even dare to do interviews in English!”
It is also to be noted that some of Saul’s international teammates are already part of the Chelsea team. Full-backs Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso and goalkeeper Kepa are also from Spain. It is with Kepa that Saul seems to have a good bond for a really long time.
“It’s really important. Having [Cesar] Azpilicueta, Marcos [Alonso] and Kepa, especially Kepa, who has shared a room with me since we started playing for the Spanish national youth team,” Saul Niguez added.
“But I already told Kepa to speak to me in English because I need to learn and get used to it. I don’t want to speak in Spanish with them. He can help me, but I’ll try to speak to him in English as much as I can, unless I’m really struggling.”
