Atlético de Madrid have made it official. The club confirmed the signing of Danish midfielder Morten Hjulmand from Sporting CP, handing Diego Simeone a new engine for the middle of the park ahead of the coming season.
The move is no short-term arrangement. Hjulmand has signed through June 30, 2031, a five-season contract that ties his future to the Spanish capital for the rest of the decade.
Atlético are paying 40 million euros fixed for the 27-year-old, a figure that can climb to 45 million euros once performance variables kick in, according to the club’s official statement confirming the transfer.
The numbers behind the deal
Those add-ons are broken into two separate tracks. Up to 3 million euros depend on how many minutes Hjulmand logs for Atlético, paid out at 750,000 euros for every 30 appearances across four installments, while the remaining 2 million euros are tied to how far the club advances in the Champions League, with individual payments attached to the round of 16, the quarterfinals, the semifinals and the final.
Readers looking for a wider view of how these structures function across the sport can find one in this breakdown of release clauses in soccer, which lays out the mechanics that shape deals like this one.
Sporting will not carry any hidden costs from the sale, either. The club confirmed that solidarity mechanism payments owed to third-party clubs from Hjulmand’s development will be covered in full by Atlético, with no intermediation expense falling on the Portuguese side.
Before the paperwork was finalized, Hjulmand completed a medical examination as part of the process, the standard final step in a transfer of this size.
From a Copenhagen academy to a Sporting captaincy
Hjulmand plays as a right-footed defensive midfielder, and Atlético pointed to his physical strength, his ability to win the ball back and his reading of the game as the traits that stood out most. Born June 25, 1999, in Kastrup, Denmark, he came through the youth academy at FC Copenhagen before building his senior career elsewhere.
His route to Sporting ran through Austria and Italy. He played for Admira Wacker before a spell at Lecce, the club that sold him on to Sporting in August 2023.
Three seasons in Lisbon turned him into a captain and mainstay of the Sporting midfield. Hjulmand made 141 appearances for Sporting, scoring 10 goals and adding 12 assists, output that sits alongside a run of silverware wearing the captain’s armband.
That production is the kind of return that tends to draw attention from analysts who track advanced metrics, a topic covered in this explainer on expected goals in soccer.
The trophies followed the captaincy. Hjulmand lifted the Primeira Liga title in both 2023-24 and 2024-25, and he also won the Taça de Portugal during his time with the club.
Speaking after his arrival, Hjulmand described what he believes he brings to a midfield. “Creo que aporto equilibrio a un equipo. Trato de equilibrar la línea defensiva y la de ataque,” he said.
He now steps into Diego Simeone’s midfield at Atlético de Madrid, a subject explored in this look at the fan culture behind major soccer rivalries.
For now, the practical detail is the one that matters most to Simeone’s planning: Hjulmand is contracted to Atlético de Madrid through the summer of 2031.
