Saul Niguez is one of Europe’s best under-23 midfielders, with a release clause of £131.7million.
The Atletico Madrid midfielder is a Copa del Rey, Europa League and Spanish Super Cup winner with four Spain caps to his name.
But had life turned out slightly differently Saul could have been playing in the Championship.
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Saul revealed that he almost joined Fulham in 2011, when Mark Hughes was in charge of the club.
He told the Daily Mail: “Fulham wanted me when I was 16.
“They were in the Premier League at the time with Mark Hughes and I was close to going.
“They had a plan for me to train with them for three months and then to start playing directly.
“I could go from the Atletico B team to the Premier League.
“I felt ready to make that jump. Thank God I never went.”
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So instead of playing with Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco he could have been team-mates with Dickson Etuhu and Philippe Senderos.
As it was Saul stayed at Atletico, making his La Liga debut in 2013 and establishing himself as a regular first-team member at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano.
But his brother, Aaron, did take the plunge and leave La Liga for the pastures new of Scottish football.
Aaron left Valencia and joined Rangers on a two-year loan deal in 2008 but the move was cut short after just a year.
Fulham were relegated in 2014 so, in hindsight, Saul probably made the right decision.
And by probably we mean it would have been the worst decision of his life if he’d moved to Fulham.
