Report: Aston Villa to sell Pierluigi Gollini to Atalanta for £3.5m

Follow us on Google Discover

Pierluigi Gollini failed to impress in the Championship with Aston Villa but has looked more at home back in Serie A with Atalanta.

Aston Villa need to raise £40 million this summer in order to avoid Financial Fair Play sanctions, according to the Birmingham Mail.

So expect the Midland giants to resort to player sales in a desperate attempt to raise funds, with star man and homegrown hero Jack Grealish among those heavily linked with a departure in the aftermath of Villa’s Championship play-off final defeat to Fulham at Wembley.

But Aston Villa could edge £3.5 million closer to that magic £40 million benchmark in the coming days. Because GazzaMercato claims that is how much Atalanta will pay to sign Pierluigi Gollini on a permanent deal.

Aston Villa signed Gollini from Hellas Verona for £4.25 million in the summer of 2016, as reported by the Mail. And the then-21-year-old Italian, who had previously had a spell at Manchester United, was tipped to be the club’s first-choice goalkeeper for years to come.

But Gollini struggled to adapt to the harsh Championship environment and lost his place when Steve Bruce replaced Roberto Di Matteo just a few months into his debut season. After just 20 league games, Gollini joined Atalanta on an 18-month loan.

And despite featuring just 11 times in Serie A since, with Etrit Berisha firmly established as the club’s number one, it seems Gollini has done enough to convince Atalanta that he is worth keeping around.

£3.5 million is not much but it is a start.