IT'S SAUL DONE Chelsea beat transfer deadline and dodgy Spanish Wi-Fi to complete Saul loan from Atletico with £34m permanent option

THOMAS TUCHEL beat the transfer deadline and dodgy Spanish Wi-Fi to land midfielder Saul Niguez on a dramatic night.

Posted Wednesday, September 01, 2021 by Thesun.co.uk

Chelsea made a late breakthrough in their bid for the Atletico Madrid midfielder last night when the Spanish champions re-signed legendary forward Antoine Griezmann.

IT'S SAUL DONE Chelsea beat transfer deadline and dodgy Spanish Wi-Fi to complete Saul loan from Atletico with £34m permanent option
Saul Niguez has completed a last-ditch switch to Chelsea Credit: Getty

It paved the way for the two teams to finally agree a one season loan deal for Niguez with a view to making it permanent at the end of this season.

But when Spain’s online registration system crashed it meant the paperwork could not be uploaded before the UK’s 11pm deadline.

It was 11.45pm before the clubs officially announced the deal for Niguez who had been pushing to sign for boss Tuchel’s European champions.

Saul said: “I am very excited to start this new challenge with Chelsea. Blues fans, I am one of you now and I can’t wait to wear the shirt, start training and see all of you. See you soon!”

Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added: "We welcome Saul to the club and believe he completes our squad as we compete for honours in five different competitions this season.

"He is a proven winner, a player with huge experience and we know he will be very well-suited to the challenges that face us on all fronts in the coming year."

Chelsea have agreed to pay a £4.3million loan fee for the player and the full whack of his £120,000-a-week wages.

There is also an option for Chelsea to buy Niguez outright for around £35m next May if things work out.

That had been the main sticking point in negotiations with Atletico Madrid initially demanding an obligation to buy the player after 12 months.

The return of Griezmann from Barcelona eventually proved the trigger to open the door for the on-off deal to resume as a busy transfer window drew to a close for The Blues.

Long-term loanee midfielder Danny Drinkwater was shipped off to Championship Reading, full back Dujon Sterling was loaned to Blackpool, Ethan Ampadu went to Venezia on the final day.

They join senior stars Tammy Abraham, Kurt Zouma, Olivier Giroud, Davide Zappacosta and Victor Moses, who also moved on.

The outgoings brought in more than £90m - virtually offsetting the club-record £97.5m paid for striker Romelu Lukaku.

But Chelsea failed in their attempts to replace Zouma with Jules Kounde when they refused to match Seville’s rigid £69m valuation of the France centre half.