For most of the summer, Saúl Ñiguez has been on his way out from Atlético Madrid.
The Spain international no longer fully fits in Diego Simeone’s plans, and while a swap deal with Antoine Griezmann was once planned, it’s mostly the Premier League that has been touted as his destination.
Liverpool were among the first to be linked, with Manchester United soon following, and finally joined by Chelsea, with the latter of the two the remaining protagonists in this race.
And, if AS are to be believed on Tuesday, it’s the Red Devils who are winning that race, as Saúl is ‘very close to leaving Atlético Madrid for good’, with his ‘destiny being the Premier League’.
They then add ‘the club with the most ballots at the moment is Manchester United, who are beating Chelsea’.
That being said, it’s also made clear ‘the Blues have come a long way in the last hours in the race’, with the two sides seemingly fighting over a loan transfer that would see them ‘take care of the entirety of the player’s wages, in addition to paying an amount for the loan to Atlético’.
That, coupled with the fact he will be ‘leaving for good’, suggests it will be a loan with an obligation to buy, but that isn’t made fully clear, so it could also be an option to buy.
Another article by AS then likens any possible deal to the one that took Alvaro Morata to Juventus.
We’ll have to wait and see who between Manchester United and Chelsea wins this particular race, but whoever does will be getting a very versatile player in a league where someone with his skillset will do just fine.
