Footie Central | Football Blog Blogging the football world
A deal to sign central midfielder Saúl Ñiguéz from Atlético Madrid has collapsed because Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel failed to provide the guarantees that the player was looking for about regular playing time.
Chelsea had all but reached an agreement with the reigning La Liga champions, with only a clause about potential future transfer sell-ons still to be negotiated.
But it is now the player himself who has pulled the plug on the move. He wanted guarantees that he would regularly feature in the starting line-up for the West London club, something, Tuchel, with the embarrassment of riches at his disposal in that area of the pitch, was not able to provide.
Saúl was also linked with a move to Manchester United, but they have now finished their transfer business for the summer in terms of incomings after they surprisingly moved to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to the club.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.