Atletico Madrid released a statement on Thursday confirming that Feyenoord defender David Hanczko has officially joined the club. The two sides have signed a five-year contract until June 30, 2030.

The 27-year-old David Hanczko came from the youth training of Zilina and made his professional debut for the first team in the AFC Champions League on March 12, 2018. He then moved to Florence and Sparta Prague, and won the Czech Champions League and Czech Cup double championships with the latter.

In August 2022, Hanczko transferred to Feyenoord for 8.3 million euros. To date, he has made 140 appearances for Feyenoord, scoring 15 goals and providing 12 assists, helping the team win the Eredivisie championship, the Dutch Cup and the Dutch Super Cup.

According to Italian Sky Sports reporter Luca Bendoni, the transfer fee is 32 million euros plus 3 million floating. Hanczko also became the first Slovenian player in Atletico Madrid's history.

Before Atletico Madrid intervened, Hanczko was close to joining Saudi Arabian giants Riyadh Victory. The two sides had agreed on a three-year contract with a total transaction price of 40 million euros.

Hanczko then went to the Riyadh Victory training camp in Austria, but was suddenly informed that the transfer was terminated after arriving. He had to temporarily stay in another hotel and finally returned to Feyenoord with nothing.

Sky Sports has learned that Riyadh Victory's move may be related to the last-minute decision to bring in Stuttgart defender Julian Chabot. In this regard, Feyenoord spokesman Raymond Solomon said: "David had reached an agreement with Riyadh Victory at the time, and so did Feyenoord. As a result, they let him go to the training camp, only to suddenly tell him that he was no longer welcome. This situation has never been seen before. The way Riyadh Victory treated David is shocking."