Atletico Madrid negotiate departure of long-serving midfielder | OneFootball

Atletico Madrid have been very busy on the transfer front in recent weeks, and with four signings confirmed, they are now focusing on exits.

Rodrigo Riquelme and Angel Correa have already been sold alongside Axel Witsel, Cesar Azpilicueta and Reinildo Mandava, whose contracts expired after the Club World Cup ended earlier this month. And soon, they will be joined by Saul Niguez.

Saul, who originally joined Atleti all the way back in 2008, has been out of favour at the RiyadhAir Metropolitano in recent years. He was loaned to Sevilla for the 2024-25 campaign, but after failing to secure a permanent move, his contract will now be terminated, as reported by Yagiz Sabuncuoglu (via MD).

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Saul has one of the highest salaries in the Atleti squad, so there has been a desire from club bosses to get his wages off the books. And soon, they will be, which will allow extra space in their salary limit.

Saul has already agreed terms with his next club

The decision to agree a mutual contract termination has come amid Saul agreeing personal terms with Turkish side Trabzonspor. A loan deal was discussed, but all parties have agreed that the right outcome is for the midfielder to join as a free agent.

On the whole, Saul had a very successful time at Atleti, particularly in his early years in Diego Simeone’s squad. But in recent times, his performance levels have dropped significantly, which meant that he was no longer counted on – and the culmination of this is his contract being cancelled ahead of schedule.

Saul is expected to travel to Türkiye in the coming days to finalise his move to Trabzonspor, which whom he will sign a four-year contract. The idea is for him to be a talismanic figure at his new club, and he’ll hope that this status drives him on.