On-loan Chelsea star Saul Niguez opens up about his early struggles with the Blues
As per the Daily Star, Atletico Madrid loanee Saul Niguez has talked about the difficulties of settling into life at Chelsea, where the Spaniard is on loan till the end of the season. The Blues have agreed to a loan deal with the La Liga champions, with an option to make the transfer permanent at the end of the loan.
Saul was highly rated during his time in Spain, spending his youth career with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, before he established himself as a La Liga star with the latter. The midfielder moved to Stamford Bridge the previous summer, coming in as a recent league winner.
Despite his obvious talent, the Spaniard has struggled to adapt to life in England, dropping underwhelming performances in midfield and not being able to impress manager Thomas Tuchel to give him more opportunities.
“I would like to have played more but I also understand that this team won the Champions League last season so it is difficult to get into the team. I really want to show the player I am and repay their confidence in me. I know I can do a lot to help Chelsea. I don’t give up and when I have the opportunity next and deliver, then I can ask a bit more of the head coach.”
The midfielder was last seen starting a game in a Chelsea jersey in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur, who were put to the sword by a strong Blues team as they ran out 2-0 winners. The game also saw Saul’s best performance in his time at Chelsea so far this season.
Language barrier
Since his arrival, Saul has only made 14 appearances for the Blues, often struggling to adjust to Tuchel’s tactical system. His loan move has so far been an underwhelming one, giving Chelsea little motivation to make it permanent at the end of the campaign.
The player for his part has confessed that a big problem he faced when he first joined Chelsea was the language barrier, leaving him feeling disorientated as he struggled to come to terms with the English language
“In my first match, I was a bit disorientated because I was used to doing things differently and it was a bit strange for me. It was quite difficult for me because I couldn’t quite do what the head coach wanted me to do but I’m very lucky that Thomas speaks very clear English with an accent I can understand! I’ve also been learning English so I can understand better what the head coach wants and adapt myself.”
The Atletico Madrid man came to England amidst much hype having enjoyed several years performing for both club and country. His arrival at Stamford Bridge certainly came with huge expectations, many of which are yet to be fulfilled.
Saul failed to live up to the hype around him, struggling to claim a place in Chelsea’s lineup, let alone drop consistent performances on the pitch. The Premier League seemed to be overwhelming for him, with the fast and physical nature of the league proving to be leagues apart from what he is used to in Spain.
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The performance in the Carabao Cup semis illustrated the impact the Spaniard can have at Stamford Bridge if he performs to his ability. Saul will hope to keep his place in the team ahead of the final later this month against Liverpool.
Although the player has not started a game since his outing against Spurs, we hope that the performance has managed to bring back the old Saul, who will go on to play a crucial role for us in the remainder of the season. Whether he can make a late case for his contract at Chelsea to be renewed or not remains to be seen.