Wanda Metropolitano new Atleti ground

Atletico Madrid have named their new stadium Wanda Metropolitano – a reference to their 20 percent major shareholder and former ground of the club.

Los Rojiblancos played in the Estadio Metropolitano de Madrid between 1923 and 1966, before moving into their Vicente Calderon home, while Wanda Property Group bought 20 percent of Atletico in January 2015 and the company’s chairman, Wang Jianlin, is China’s second richest man.

Diego Simeone’s side are scheduled to move into their new home in the North East of the city for the start of the 2017/18 campaign.

"The deal was signed this morning in Peking – Wanda are without doubt our best travelling partner for this journey,” said Atleti president Enrique Cerezo at the press conference, which the Madrid-based club promoted with a ‘history and future’ theme.

Meanwhile the club’s CEO Gil Marin added "Wanda and Atletico are two brands which are growing and are known globally – this will help that continue."

Striker Fernando Torres praised the decision to feature the club’s former Metropolitano home in the new stadium’s name

“I hope I can tell my grandfather I played at the Metropolitano,” said the former Liverpool and Chelsea striker.

“He used to tell me about the old one, and we are lucky to have a partner like Wanda.”

Image via @Atleti

La Liga - Club News