Saúl Ñíguez Esclapez (born 21 November 1994), known as Saúl Ñíguez or simply Saúl, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Spain national team. After coming through Atlético Madrid's youth academy, Saúl went on to appear in more than 300 competitive matches for the club. In the 2013–14 season, he was on loan at Rayo Vallecano, also in La Liga. Having represented Spain at various youth levels, Saúl helped the under-21 team finish second in the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, being top scorer in the process. He was selected by the senior team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Atlético Madrid

Born in Elche,

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous comm ...

, Saúl moved to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

at the age of 11 before switching to cross-city rivals Atlético Madrid in 2008. He made his senior debut in the 2010–11 season, appearing for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Fo ...

. His first goal came on 10 April 2011 in a 3–1 away win against

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, ...

, his only of the season in an eventual midtable finish. In July 2011, Saúl joined the Atlético main squad for pre-season training. On 8 March 2012, at the age of just 17 years and 108 days, he made his debut with the Atlético first team, playing the last six minutes of a 3–1 home win against

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. His second appearance came on 20 September, again as a substitute and in the Europa League, this time against

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

. Three days later, he scored both goals for Atlético B in a 2–1 away

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

win over

Real Madrid C Real Madrid Club de Fútbol C, commonly known as Real Madrid C, was a Spanish association football team that played in the Tercera División – Group 7. It was Real Madrid's second reserve team. They played their home games at La Ciudad del ...

. Saúl made his La Liga debut on 21 April 2013, playing two minutes in a 1–0 win away to

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...

after replacing fellow youth graduate Koke. Again from the bench, he appeared in his second league match with the main squad on 4 May, against Deportivo La Coruña in a 0–0 draw. On 21 July 2013, Saúl joined Rayo Vallecano on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

for the 2013–14 season. After returning, he featured in both legs of the

2014 Supercopa de España The 2014 Supercopa de España was a two-legged Association football, football match-up played in August 2014 between the champions of 2013–14 La Liga, Atlético Madrid, and the winners of the 2013–14 Copa del Rey, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid. T ...

in which Atlético defeated Real Madrid, starting in the first match. In a Madrid derby on 7 February 2015, Saúl replaced the injured Koke after ten minutes, and scored his team's second goal shortly after through a

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before ...

, in a 4–0 win. From the 2015–16 season onwards, after the departure of Mario Suárez and the injury of

Tiago Mendes Tiago Cardoso Mendes (; born 2 May 1981), known simply as Tiago, is a Portuguese football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He played professionally in five of Europe's major leagues, Portugal, England, France, Italy and S ...

, Saúl became a nuclear midfield element for the Diego Simeone-led team. On 27 April 2016, Saúl played 85 minutes in the first leg of the semi-finals of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

against

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

, and also scored the only goal at the

Vicente Calderón Stadium The Vicente Calderón Stadium ( es, Estadio Vicente Calderón ) was the home stadium of Atlético Madrid from its completion in 1966 to 2017, with a seating capacity of 54,907 and located on the banks of the Manzanares, in the Arganzuela distri ...

with an individual effort. Starting in the final against Real Madrid, he played the entire 120 minutes and successfully converted his attempt in the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, in a 5–3 loss. The following 18 April, in the same competition but in the quarter-final, he scored through a header to help Atlético to a 1–1 draw away to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

. Also in that month, in an interview given to ''

Diario AS ''Diario AS'' () is a Spanish daily sports newspaper that concentrates particularly on football. Profile ''Diario AS'' is part of PRISA which also owns ''El País'' and '' Cinco Días''. The paper particularly covers news of the Community of M ...

'', he admitted to having played for "two seasons" under extremely painful circumstances. On 1 July 2017, Saúl signed a new nine-year contract with Atlético. He made nine appearances in the 2017–18 Europa League, scoring three goals for the eventual champions. Saúl started his 250th match for the club on 18 August 2019, in a win over

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a fla ...

. In the 2020 Supercopa de España Final against Real Madrid, which ended 0–0 after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

, both he and Thomas Partey missed their shoot-out attempts in a 4–1 defeat. On 18 February 2020, Saúl scored from close range in the fourth minute of the 2019–20 Champions League's round-of-16 first leg – his tenth goal in the competition– against defending champions

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

to ensure a 1–0 home win for the hosts. He also featured in the second leg at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

, playing the entire 3–2 extra-time victory. On 30 June 2020, Saúl scored twice from

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * P ...

in a 2–2 draw away to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

, as Atlético managed that number of goals against that opposition in a league match for the first time under Simeone.

Loan to Chelsea

On 31 August 2021, Saúl joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Chelsea on loan for the remainder of the 2021–22 season, with an option to make the transfer permanent upon the completion of the loan. He made his Premier League debut on 11 September, in a 3–0 win against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

, but received criticism from fans for his performance. He won the

Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 20 ...

with Chelsea on 12 February 2022, coming on as a 76th minute substitute to replace

Callum Hudson-Odoi Callum James Hudson-Odoi (born 7 November 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, on loan from club Chelsea. During his time with Chelsea's academy, Hudson-Odoi was part ...

in a 2–1 final victory against

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is one ...

. He scored his only goal of the season against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1 ...

in a 3–2

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

win on 2 March 2022. Saúl posted his goodbye to Chelsea and the club's fans on 7 June 2022 as his loan spell ended and he returned to Atlético Madrid.

International career

Saúl earned 47

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for Spain, all youth levels comprised. He experienced individual and collective success in the under-19 team, winning the

2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 61st edition of UEFA's European Under-19 Championship (the eleventh since the age competition change to an Under-19 level) and took place in Estonia from 3 to 15 July. Spain are the title hol ...

and being named in the Team of the Tournament. On 26 May 2015, Saúl was called to the senior team for a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

with Costa Rica and a

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro ...

match against

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

, but did not make his debut on either occasion. He, Sergio Rico and

Lucas Vázquez Lucas Vázquez Iglesias (; born 1 July 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right winger or right-back for La Liga club Real Madrid. Starting his career at Real Madrid, he made his first-team debut in 2015 after a season o ...

were the three uncapped players in a provisional squad for the final tournament in France, but was eventually cut from the final squad alongside Isco. Saúl made his debut on 1 September 2016, playing 15 minutes in a 2–0 friendly win away to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. He was crowned top scorer at the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, notably scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

to help Spain beat

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

3–1 in the semi-final. Back with the full team, Saúl was selected in the squad chosen by manager

Julen Lopetegui Julen Lopetegui Agote (; born 28 August 1966) is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. A goalkeeper, he played 149 La Liga matches over nine seasons, representing Real ...

for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Following

Fernando Hierro Fernando Ruiz Hierro (; born 23 March 1968) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, sweeper or defensive midfielder. He is the current sporting director of Liga MX club C.D. Guadalajara. He won five La L ...

replacing the latter shortly before the tournament, he was an unused member in an eventual round-of-16 exit. Under new coach

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playing in several different positions, but usually played a ...

, Saúl scored his first goal for his country on 8 September 2018, equalising in an eventual 2–1 win against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

for the

2018–19 UEFA Nations League A The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League A was the top division of the 2018–19 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEF ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. He also scored against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in the following fixture three days later, a 6–0 victory in his hometown of Elche in the same competition.

Style of play

by trade, Saúl was deployed as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

during his spell at Rayo Vallecano. Spanish football journalist Guillem Balagué stated that he suits several styles of play, citing his ability to play "Simeone style" (in reference to Atlético manager Diego Simeone) and "Barcelona style", summing up with "We have never had a midfielder like this". Following Luis Enrique's appointment as Spain manager in 2018, ''Diario AS Alfredo Relaño remarked that "Saúl is the player to move the ball forward with purpose and attempt to finalise long passages of possession", adding that "The new centre of the park for Spain (where so much happens for the national side) is now defined by him, a box-to-box player and one never afraid to try his luck in front of goal", Sid Lowe of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' opined that "now he embodies the shift, technique and talent but athleticism too, blessed of impeccable timing, arriving in the area".

Personal life

Saúl comes from a football family: his father, Boria, played several years with

Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,

as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. His brothers,

Aarón Aarón is the Spanish form of the Biblical name Aharon. Notable people who are often referred to solely by this name include: * Puerto Rican Pentecostal sect leader Teófilo Vargas Seín, who uses Aarón as his religious title * Aarón Ñíguez ( ...

and Jony, are also footballers. Saúl was one of the stars of the

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one ...

television documentary series ''Six Dreams'', recorded during the 2017–18 season. In June 2020, he announced that he and his brother Aarón would be starting a new youth project with Nike called Club Costa City, in his hometown.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Saúl goal''

Honours

Atlético Madrid * La Liga:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: 2017–18 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

runner-up: 2015–16 Chelsea *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

runner-up: 2021–22 *

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...

runner-up: 2021–22 Spain U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain national under ...

runner-up:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Spain U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and Englan ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

runner-up:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Individual *UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament:

*UEFA European Under-21 Championship Golden Boot:

*UEFA European Under-21 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2017 *UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2017–18

References

External links

Profile
at the Atlético Madrid website
Profile
at the Royal Spanish Football Federation website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saul Niguez 1994 births Living people Footballers from Elche Spanish footballers Association football midfielders Atlético Madrid B players Atlético Madrid footballers Rayo Vallecano players Chelsea F.C. players Segunda División B players La Liga players Premier League players UEFA Europa League winning players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spain international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England