Atletico Madrid signs young Italian left back Matteo Ruggeri from Atalanta

MADRID (AP) — Atletico Madrid signed Italian left back Matteo Ruggeri from Atalanta on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old defender will arrive on a five-year contract, Atletico said.

Financial details of the transfer were not immediately disclosed.

Ruggeri came through Atalanta's youth system and made his first-team debut as an 18-year-old in a Champions League match against Liverpool in 2020.

Atletico said Ruggeri is a left back “with good crossing ability and great stamina.”

He spent the 2021-22 season on loan at Salernitana and returned to Atalanta the following season to establish himself as an important piece for coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

Ruggeri was included in UEFA's Europa League Team of the Season in 2023-24.

He was an international at all youth levels for Italy and was called up to the senior squad in March for the Nations League quarterfinal against Germany.

Atletico has already parted ways with three defensive players from last season's squad: Reinildo, Axel Witsel and Cesar Azpilicueta.

Diego Simeone's team was eliminated in the group stage of the Club World Cup that is being played in the United States. It finished third in the Spanish league, behind Real Madrid and champion Barcelona.

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