Chelsea are planning on bringing in 26-year-old midfielder Saul Niguez on loan from Atletico Madrid in the final few days of the summer transfer window, according to The Telegraph.

Thomas Tuchel's side have been on the lookout for another defensive midfielder all throughout the summer, with targets such as Declan Rice and Aurelien Tchouameni also reportedly being looked at.

Atletico have a vast array of midfield options and with it only being a temporary deal, Diego Simeone likely is not as concerned about losing the 26-year-old.

Last Season's Stats

The Spaniard has been at Atletico since his youth career, making his first appearance all the way back in 2012, being something of a mainstay ever since.

Last season he made 1.7 successful tackles per 90 minutes - bettered only by four players in the Chelsea squad during the previous campaign.

He was also only dribbled past 0.9 times per game, better than the likes of N'Golo Kante as well as Jorginho, with his pass accuracy of 84.4% an equally impressive statistic considering the midfielder played more minutes than 70% of the Chelsea squad.

Potential Outgoings

The Telegraph is also reporting that Chelsea would prefer to 'move on' the likes of Ross Barkley, Danny Drinkwater and Tiemoue Bakayoko, all of whom did not feature for the club last season.

According to the newspaper, the loan move for Saul may in fact hinge on the club securing transfers for the aforementioned players, none of whom look likely to be in contention under Tuchel.

Embed from Getty Images

Bakayoko is reportedly close to a move to AC Milan on loan with an option to buy, according to Sky Sports, a club he was at during the 2018/19 season. 

As for the other two English midfielders, it appears there is no clear interest as of yet, but with a week to go in this summer window, lots of activity could yet occur.