Rodrigo De Paul (29-Atletico Madrid) has rejected a move to Saudi Arabia.
Spanish outlet Marca reported on Monday (September 9) that “Saudi clubs made attractive offers for Atletico players in the final days of the summer transfer window. They offered big salaries that far exceeded what they would receive in Europe. Yannick Carrasco confirmed his move to Al-Shabab earlier this month.”
“De Paul rejected the Saudi offer and decided to stay at Atletico.” De Paul, who joined Atletico from Italian side Udinese in the summer of 2021 on a five-year contract, will continue to wear the red shirt of Atletico for the 2023-24 season. 메이저사이트
De Paul is best known as a close friend of Lionel Messi (36-Inter Miami). The two are teammates on the Argentina national soccer team. If an opponent makes a rough tackle or has a nervous breakdown during an Argentine A match, De Paul is the first to come to Messi”s defense.
This has earned him various nicknames, including “Messi’s bodyguard” and “Messi’s bodyguard chief. De Paul himself says he likes the nickname. “Messi is the player Argentina needs to protect,” he said, showing his loyalty. De Paul and Messi won the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
There has been a recent boom in Saudi transfers. It’s hard to categorize it as a “glitter frenzy. One of the teams targeting De Paul was Al Ahli, who this summer acquired Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez, Alain Saint-Maximin, Frank Kessie, and Edouard Mendy from Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle, Barcelona, and Chelsea, respectively.
The Saudi transfer boom started with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo left Manchester United for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nasr last winter. He was followed by Sadio Mane, Aymeric Laporte, Marcelo Brozovic, and Alexis Sanchez.
In addition to these two teams, Alhilal added Neymar, Kalidou Koulibaly, Yacine Bounou, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, and Jubeng Neves, while Alitihad added Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, and Fabinho. Al Etihad brought in Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Mousa Dembele.
Atletico, who held on to De Paul, are in fourth place in La Liga this season. While the other teams have played four games each, Atletico has only played three, but with two wins and a draw, they sit behind Real Madrid, Girona, and Barcelona.
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