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What's the story?
Manchester City have made contact with Atletico Madrid to sign Saul Niguez who is also a transfer target of Barcelona.
In case you didn't know
Saul Niguez is an academy product of famed Atletico Madrid academy. The young Spanish midfielder is one of the best young midfielders in the world. He has been very loyal to Atletico Madrid, as he has rejected the chance to other European giants multiple times.
Heart of the matter
The 24-year-old has already made 240 appearances for the club based in the capital of Spain. The fact that he signed a nine-year contract with the club in 2017 is a testament to his loyalty to the club. Atletico Madrid have done well in the last few years but they have failed to win a lot of trophies as compared to the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Atletico is ten points short league leaders Barcelona in LaLiga, while they have been knocked out of both Copa Del Rey and Champions League.
Barcelona have already completed the signing of Frenkie De Jong in the January Transfer window. According to reports, the Catalan club is now in the race to sign the highly rated Spanish midfielder. "He can't stay at Atletico anymore, everything's complicated for him there," a source told ESPN FC.
On the other hand, Manchester City has been looking for a long term replacement for Fernandinho for a long time now. Fernandinho is very good, but he is 34, so according to ESPN City wants to replace him with Saul Niguez.
According to reports Atletico Madrid wants at least 120 million Euros for their star player, but they can agree to a deal of around 80 million Euros. His teammate at both club and International level Alvaro Morata wants Saul to stay because he is an asset to Atletico Madrid.
"The market is always like that. In every window, big-name players are linked to top clubs. Saul is one of the best players in his position and he is also young. There's no doubt that anyone would be interested in having him. We are lucky to have him. I hope he stays because he is an asset to Atletico and he is a great person. We need him to stay." Alvaro Morata said about Saul Niguez
Rumour Rating (7/10) :
ESPN is a trusted source and City really need a long-term replacement for Fernandinho as he is not getting any younger.
What's next?
Atletico Madrid will surely try to keep hold of their man but it will be difficult to reject a huge offer to keep an unhappy player against his wishes.
