Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini has confirmed that Tottenham target Ruslan Malinovskyi will soon sign for Olympique Marseille, a move that has been backed by Fabrizio Romano.
Speaking to the press via Football Italia, the Serie A coach revealed that talks are in progress between Atalanta and Marseille that will see the Ukrainian international move to France, with Romano later tweeting that a deal had been agreed between the two clubs for Malinovskyi.
Gasperini said: “There are negotiations in progress, I don’t know if it will go through. He was an important player for us and played a lot this season too, but has been replaced by Ademola Lookman. We therefore are not planning to bring in another player if Malinovskyi leaves.”
The news will come as a major blow to Tottenham, who have been heavily linked with Malinovskyi in recent weeks with Corriere della Sera evening reporting that Antonio Conte’s side had even made a bid to Atalanta to sign the midfielder.
However, it is Marseille who have now won the race to sign Malinovskyi, with the Ligue 1 giants agreeing a deal that could cost as much as €13m (£11m), a relative bargain considering how accomplished the 29-year-old has been in recent years with Atalanta.
Marseille signing Malinovskyi will sting for Tottenham
Malinovskyi had all the makings of being a perfect Conte signing. An older player from Italy who could have offered a lot of what Tottenham were missing in midfield, the 29-year-old ticked all the boxes for the north London side, which is why the Ukrainian signing for Marseille will sting for Spurs.
At £11m, the French club have landed what could be one of the signings of the January window, with Malinovskyi having a lot to offer having spent the majority of this season as a bench player, with Ligue 1 an ideal division for the former Tottenham target.
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