The Atletico Madrid 2022-23 starts this Sunday the preseason again with Diego Simeone at the head of the team and with few changes in his squad, at least in terms of new faces, because, for now, only the Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel and the Brazilian striker Samuel Lino appear on the list of signings for this summer. On his return to work, Cholo, however, has other reinforcements, all of them old acquaintances of the house, such as the youth squad Manu Sánchez, Sergio Camello or Riqulme. Other footballers recovered by the rojiblancos after finishing their assignments are Álvaro Morata and Saul Niguez, who returns after a disappointing year at Chelsea. «I feel very well, with great desire, very excited to return and mentally to the fullest. I really want to see my teammates, to see the coach and go back to work under him. I’m looking forward to Sunday and meeting everyone again », he assured in an interview with the club’s media.
Saul, who was not quite comfortable playing as a left-back, left Atlético in August last year for Chelsea, where he was unable to succeed. With the Londoners he played 23 games throughout the course, only twelve of them as a starter. The man from Elche was unable to establish himself in the midfield of the English team, who had just become champions of the Champions League, and the German Tuchel ended up resorting to him as an alternative for the left flank of his defense, the position he did not like to occupy in Atletico Madrid.
parties
Saúl played for Chelsea in the last season, being a starter in only twelve of them
“It was a good experience for me to go out at a time when I was not feeling well mentally. I have been able to reset, learn from a new culture, lead a new life, meet a new club, fans. I can only be grateful to all the people of the Chelsea for the trust and my teammates for making the year very bearable and helping me and Atleti for having facilitated it«Saúl assures in the aforementioned interview.
soccer player with arrival and good shot, Saúl did not manage to make his debut as a scorer with Chelsea, who decided not to make effective the purchase option he had on the Spanish international. “I am aware that I am coming off a loan in which I have not had many minutes and that I have to get a place in the team with work, perseverance and a lot of sacrifice, something that is very expensive because there is very high competition, we have a team enormously competitive, ”said the youth squad, who returns to Atlético without even knowing if he will start the season under Cholo because several teams, such as Roma, have been interested in him.
Es World Cup year and he has the illusion of going to Qatar, but for this he has to have continuity in his team and at Atlético it does not seem that it will be easy to find a place in Simeone’s eleven. Neither in the center of the field nor as an emergency resource on the side, where Reinildo and Lodi appear as owners of the band.
«I come with a lot of humility, thinking of working and helping the team in everything I can and from wherever I play. I really want to show that, despite having a difficult year, it has been very good for me to improve and grow in many aspects, both sporting and personal. And as a group I hope that we will continue as always, being a team that fights every game until the end, that does not give up, that competes in all tournaments and that we can bring a lot of joy to our fans”, Saúl assured. A player who has played 340 games as a rojiblanco and has scored 43 goals.
