Saul Niguez has revealed he wants to spend the rest of his career at Atletico Madrid amid suggestions Barcelona are pursuing him.
The Spain international has been regularly linked with a move to Barcelona in the last few years.
Saul has emerged as one of the best midfielders in Europe in recent seasons and signed a stunning nine-year Atletico deal in 2017.
Barcelona want to sign another central midfielder but have been served a decisive blow in their pursuit of Saul.
“That’s why I signed a long-term contract,” he told Radio Nacional Espana, via AS.
“That’s my intention, to be at Atletico Madrid all my life, but in the world of football you never know.
“For me, yes [I want to retire at Atletico], but maybe I have a bad couple of years and then they grow to not love me anymore.”
In the last four La Liga campaigns only Atletico team-mate Filipe Luis (354) has made more tackles than Saul (348).
