Chelsea agree £4.5m loan with Atletico Madrid for Saul Niguez with option to sign midfielder on £40m permanent transfer
CHELSEA are set to land their second major signing of the summer in Saul Niguez.
A deal has been agreed to take the midfielder on loan from Atletico Madrid for £4.5million.
The Blues will then have the option to sign Saul on a permanent basis for around £40m at the end of the season.
It had been reported only days ago that talks between the clubs had broken down.
But a breakthrough has been reached, helped along by Atletico's move to bring Antoine Griezmann back to the Spanish capital.
The French forward is linked with a switch from Barcelona, which could see Joao Felix heading to the Camp Nou.
Saul, 26, had been put forward as a candidate for the swap deal earlier in the summer.
But the Spain international is now set to reinforce Thomas Tuchel's midfield following the loan departures of Danny Drinkwater, Conor Gallagher, Ethan Ampadu and Tiemoue Bakayoko.
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)
Atletico boss Diego Simeone has played Saul in all of the club's three opening LaLiga games of the new season.
The midfielder was an integral part of the 2020-21 title winning side.
In all, Saul has appeared in almost 350 games for the club since his move from Real Madrid's academy at the age of 11.
Tuchel has already brought in Romelu Lukaku this summer, along with the arrival of reserve goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli.
⚽ Read our Transfer news live blog for the very latest rumours, gossip and done deals
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN NEW CUSTOMER DEALS