Saúl, renewed until 2026
The player from Elche joined our Academy in 2007 and will keep defending the red and white shirt after signing a new contract with our club that ends on June 30th, 2026.
Atlético de Madrid has reached an agreement with Saúl Ñíguez for the extension of his contract for five more seasons. The 22 years old homegrown player has signed a new contract with our club, which now extends until June 30th, 2026. Our midfielder was very happy after signing this contract, which will keep him with the club for nine seasons: “I am very happy because at Atleti we are a family and there is no better place to be”.
The red and white player is very grateful for the clear bet that the club has done for him: “I will work my full potential on the field as always to pay back the trust that the club is giving to me. I’d like to thank all my teammates and the coaching staff for their help day by day so that I can be the player I am today”.
Saúl joined our Academy in 2007, playing at the Atlético de Madrid B with only 16 years old in 2011. His progression has been spectacular, since that one year later he was already training with the first team, when he barely had 17 years and played a UEFA Europa League game against Besiktas on March 8th, 2012. In the 2013-14 season, he was loaned to the Rayo Vallecano in the First Division and gave a wonderful performance. That experience helped him get better and stronger in the growth and win his own place in the first team of Atlético de Madrid in the 2014-15 season, in which he played 35 games, scored 4 goals and helped the team in the Supercopa de España.
In the 2015-16 season, Saúl made a qualitative leap in his career: he became a fundamental piece of the red and white plan, played 48 games and scored 9 goals. That great performance has been reconfirmed in the last season, in which he played 53 games and scored 9 goals, 4 of them are in the Champions League.
His great quality and personality also made him one of the Spanish national team and leader of the U21EURO in Poland. Spain finished the journey as the runner-up of the tournament and our player was the top scorer "Golden Boot" of the tournament with 5 goals.
For José Luis Pérez Caminero, “Saúl is an example for all the kids in our Academy. An example of giving, teamwork, solitary on the field and an impressive quality. He is an all-around player, with great aerial power, an amazing long distance shooting skill, a tireless worker, a young player with lots of experiences… We should feel happy for the agreement we reached because he is such a great player and there are no limits to his growth.”
