Chelsea set to cancel Saul loan short after poor start

Saul has had a difficult time at Chelsea since joining from Atletico Madrid

Chelsea are set to cut short Saul Niguez's loan and allow the Spaniard to return to Atletico Madrid in January after a poor start to life in west London. The midfielder has failed to force his way into Thomas Tuchel's plans at Stamford Bridge, featuring just five times, and has fallen behind Ross Barkley and Reuben Loftus-Cheek in the pecking order. According to Marca, Chelsea are willing to end his loan early so that he can return to Atletico, where he had established himself as an influential figure. There was relative excitement over the 26-year-old's arrival but his time has been summed up so far by the fact that the only other Chelsea first-teamer with less playing time to his name this season is third-choice keeper Marcus Bettinelli. Saul was replaced 45 minutes into his debut against Aston Villa after a shaky start and since then has only played two minutes in the Premier League. According to the report, Chelsea's intentions may not be as easy as they hope for, with Atletico claiming that there is no clause to terminate the deal early and that regardless of whether they want to keep him or not, Saul will stay put until the end of the season. Furthermore, the departure of Saul allowed Atletico to raise the funds to resign Antoine Griezmann in the summer, making them reluctant to recall him, and have already come to the conclusion that Chelsea won't take up the offer to sign the Spain international on a permanent deal The Telegraph has reported Saul has not given up hope of resurrecting his slow start to life at Chelsea, and is planning to use the international break to get his head down and work on finding his way back into the side. Related links:

• Solskjaer will never reach the level of Klopp, Pep and Tuchel, Carragher claims
• Gary Neville sends warning to Jadon Sancho after slow start to Man Utd career
• Mark Clattenburg admits he gave Atletico Madrid a penalty after offside mistake