Chelsea only managed to sign Saul Niguez after Manchester City rejected the Atletico Madrid midfielder.

The Daily Star says Chelsea came close to missing out on Saul and were only able to bring him to west London after manager Pep Guardiola rejected the chance to sign him for City.

The report claims that Atletico tried to flog him in a part-exchange deal that would have seen Bernardo Silva join the defending La Liga champions as part of the move.

City decided to reject their bid in order to hold out for around £40million in cash, while Guardiola had no desire to add Saul to his ranks for the season ahead.

Their decision to avoid a move for the midfielder allowed Chelsea to pounce and engineer a last-gasp switch for themselves.