Chelsea and Liverpool have reportedly tabled offers to Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez, who is also a target for Barcelona this summer.
According to Fabrizio Romano on his YouTube channel, Chelsea and Liverpool are waiting in the background to pounce on Saul Niguez if his move to Barcelona collapses. The Premier League giants submitted their respective proposals to the Atletico Madrid midfielder and could make their move if he does not join Barcelona.
Saul Niguez has suffered a stunning decline in stature at Atletico Madrid after years of being a mainstay in the middle of the park for the Spanish giants. In 2020/21, though, his status as a regular starter ended, with the 26-year-old sharing game-time and having to suffice with making appearances off the bench.
While he did make 41 appearances across all competitions, Saul managed to start just 22 La Liga games. The player’s stock has not just fallen at club level, where Atletico Madrid are ready to cash in on him this summer, but also at international level, having lost his spot in the Spanish national side. But, Saul is still a popular name in the transfer request, with Barcelona, Chelsea and Liverpool tailing him.
Barcelona’s interest in Saul is fairly recent, having failed in their pursuit of Georginio Wijnaldum and subsequently being forced to scour the market for alternatives. A possible deal for Saul, though, will be in the form of a part-exchange, with Antoine Griezmann being touted for a return to Atletico Madrid.
Such a deal will be complicated to pull off, which is giving competitors like Chelsea and Liverpool the opportunity to steal a march on Barcelona. Speaking of Liverpool, they are in the market for a replacement for Wijnaldum, who was coincidentally linked with Barcelona before he joined Paris Saint-Germain.
To that end, Saul is viewed as one of the options to bolster their midfield department. However, Liverpool also have to battle Chelsea, in addition to Barcelona, in pursuit of the 26-year-old, with the Blues also looking for a midfield reinforcement following Billy Gilmour’s loan move to Norwich City.
While the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ethan Ampadu, Ross Barkley and Tiemoue Bakayoko are all back from their respective loan spells, each of the players could either be sold or loaned out again. To that end, Saul has emerged on Chelsea’s radar, with the Blues, along with Liverpool, tabling their respective offers for the Spaniard.
For now, Chelsea and Liverpool are in the background, waiting to pounce if Barcelona are unable to secure the services of the Atletico Madrid midfielder. An intriguing transfer battle is set to ensue to secure the services of Saul Niguez this summer.
