Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini certainly didn’t sound like a man ready to hold Duvan Zapata in a warm embrace and bid an emotional farewell to his long-serving centre-forward.
“This (rumour) bothers me a lot,” Gasperini tells Tuttomercatoweb; quizzed about the Colombian’s potential departure ahead of Thursday’s 5-2 Coppa Italia thrashing of Spezia in Bergamo.
“Up until two weeks ago, many journalists said we need to improve the squad. Now, (striker Rasmus) Hojlund has come through, he did well and so let’s offload Zapata? (The rumour) is a bad thing.”
Now, if Zapata was on the verge of leaving Atalanta, would Gasperini really have opted to start him against Spezia at the Gewiss Stadium; the 31-year-old providing two assists to set up a quarter-final meeting with Inter Milan?
A January departure might have felt possible a couple of days ago; reports indicating that the former Udinese ace was on the radar of numerous Premier League clubs. But things have changed since then. Multiple doors, it seems, have closed.
Nottingham Forest close to Chris Wood while West Ham land Danny Ings
On Friday morning, Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe confirmed Chris Wood’s impending move to Nottingham Forest (Sky Sports). Danny Ings, meanwhile, is now a West Ham player; adding another claret-and-blue club to his collection.
Forest and West Ham were two sides who lodged enquiries for Zapata (Tuttomercatoweb and Daily Mail). Both opted, however, for more ‘proven’ Premier League alternatives in Wood and Ings. Perhaps, with their top-flight status on the line, Steve Cooper and David Moyes felt Zapata – who has never played in England before and therefore may have taken some time to adapt – was an expensive risk not worth taking.
And if Everton could not afford the £12 million Aston Villa wanted for Danny Ings, then no one at Goodison Park should be awaiting Zapata’s arrival with bated breath. Atalanta, TMW add, will only consider selling Zapata this month, and value him at £5 million more than Ings.
Everton, according to the Sunday Mirror (15 January, page 70) only have room in their budget for a loan deal; Lampard looking more and more like a man asked to construct a country mansion out of breadsticks and glue sticks.
Atalanta will head to the San Siro on January 31st, a place in the Coppa Italia semis up for grabs. Do not be surprised if Zapata is a member of that travelling party.
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