Atletico sign midfielder Hjulmand from Sporting
MADIRD: Atletico Madrid announced Saturday the signing of Danish international defensive midfielder Morten Hjulmand from Sporting Lisbon. The 27-year-old has joined the 2020/21 La Liga champions on a contract that will run until 2031. In a statement on their website, Atletico praised the Dane’s “physical strength, his ability to win the ball back and his reading of the game.” He has represented Denmark on 27 occasions, scoring one goal. After playing in his homeland and Austria, Hjulmand moved in 2021 to Lecce, where aged 23 he became the second-youngest player to captain a Serie A side, after Francesco Totti at Roma. From there, he joined Sporting and, during his three seasons in Lisbon, won two Primeira Liga titles as well as the Portuguese Cup. So far this transfer window, Atletico have signed Spanish international left-back Alejandro Grimaldo from Bayer Leverkusen, while they are also set to recruit Korean forward Lee Kang-in from European champions Paris Saint-Germain.