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What's the story?
News emerging from the Manchester United camp is that one of the first players Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would like to bring in is Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez.
In case you didn't know...
Saul is having a good season with Atletico who were on course for a potentially great season until their La Liga hopes were dashed by a string of poor results and they were dramatically ousted from the Champions League by a Ronaldo-inspired Juventus.
Saul's personal stats indicate that he is on par with some of the best midfielders in his role that the Premier League has to offer, comparing to the likes of Fernandinho, N'Golo Kante and Manchester United's own Ander Herrera. He wins on average 7.57 duels every game which is higher than any of the midfielders mentioned above while also displaying good instincts when it comes to interceptions (1.69 per game) and tackling (1.18 per game).
However, he's had a less than creative season this time around failing to create too many chances or making fewer dribbles than he did in previous seasons. He does, however, have to his name 5 goals and 3 assists, which, given his position in the team, reflects fairly well on him.
He began his spell at Atleti with a slightly more advanced role, but with Rodri now in the picture, he has adopted a deeper role and shows statistically fewer direct goal contributions than he did between 2014-2017.
The heart of the matter
According to ESPN, the Reds of Manchester see Saul as the perfect partner for Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba in midfield, while their noisy neighbors Manchester City are very interested in Saul's teammate Rodri.
Manchester United are keen on the midfielder, having kept tabs on him since his loan spell at Rayo Vallecano in the 2013-14 season. Since then he has found himself an integral part of the Atletico Madrid set-up.
What's next?
Meanwhile, Atletico have already let go of Lucas Hernandez who is Bayern bound, and could potentially also lose Saul, Rodri and perhaps Griezmann. Its already looking like a long summer for the Spanish side.
