Chelsea reignite talks over Saul Niguez loan

Published on: 31 August 2021

Chelsea and Atletico Madrid are back in negotiations over a loan deal for midfielder Saul Niguez, who is now keen to make the move to Stamford Bridge.

The Blues hit a roadblock last week when it emerged that Saul was reluctant to join Chelsea amid fears he would not see enough playing time - the entire reason he is frustrated at Atletico in the first place.

Chelsea have not given up, however, and sources have confirmed to 90min that they have managed to convince Saul that he would get a fair shot at regular first-team minutes at Stamford Bridge, where manager Thomas Tuchel wants him as competition for Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and N'Golo Kante.

All that remains is for the two sides to reach an agreement over the terms of his deal. Atleti are prepared to let Saul go but had been urging Chelsea to agree to an obligation to buy the midfielder permanently next summer, whereas the Blues only want an option.

There is hope that Atletico will agree to Chelsea's demands, and they already appear to be preparing themselves for Saul's departure by striking a deal to bring in Paris Saint-Germain's Pablo Sarabia.

Talks are well underway with PSG, who are keen to offload Sarabia and save themselves a bit of money.

Should Atletico get that deal over the line, they are expected to be far more accommodating when it comes to Saul's potential move to Chelsea.

The Blues also remain interested in Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde and have not yet given up on signing the Frenchman completely, but they were left stunned when the Spanish side suddenly raised their asking price at the weekend.

Chelsea, who believed they had a deal agreed for Kounde at around the £43m mark, are reluctant to go any higher than that, whereas Sevilla are now holding out for the best part of £70m.

The distance between the two sides is significant and is likely to be too great for Chelsea to solve before the window closes, but the Blues have not yet given up all hope.


This article was originally published on 90min as Chelsea reignite talks over Saul Niguez loan.

Source: www.90min.com

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