The likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and West Ham United face a summer battle, with Atalanta determined to keep each and every one of their stars, president Antonio Percassi has told Sport Mediaset.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where, every time an exciting crop of players comes together at one of the non-traditional members of Europe’s elite, it doesn’t take long for the vultures to circle.
Borussia Dortmund, Ajax and a thrilling Monaco side who beat PSG to the Ligue 1 title in 2017 all had their squads picked apart in ruthless fashion.
With Atalanta taking Italian and European football by storm this season , speculation suggests the same could happen again.
TMW reported in July that Robin Gosens, statistically the most creative full-back on the continent with ten goals and eight assists to his name, is a £25 million target for West Ham, Leicester and Chelsea.
Goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini, meanwhile, has allegedly been lined up as a long-term successfor for Hugo Lloris at Spurs (Gazzetta dello Sport in May).
But Atalanta are in a position of strength, on and off the pitch.
They are flying high in one of Europe’s major leagues and, crucially, have almost £100 million in the bank from the sales of a number of fringe players and youngsters, including Juventus’s Dejan Kulusevski and Inter’s Alessandro Bastoni.
In short, there is no need to sell.
“Several players will be targeted,” president Percassi says, translated by Football Italia.
“We will do everything we can to keep them, unless there are figures that are impossible to refuse. The goal is to keep the best.”
In the case of right-back Timothy Castagne, however, Atalanta might have no choice but to cash in.
Speaking to LDH recently, the Belgium international admitted that a move to Tottenham ‘can’t be refused’. Castagne also has just one year left on his contract.
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