Inter Milan shouldn’t be giving up on Ademola Lookman and has made a suggestion of 42+3 million euros, awaiting a response from Atalanta. A determine that will place Lookman within the high 5 most worthwhile gross sales within the historical past of the Dea.
A theme, lately, has all the time been the flexibility of champions to reinvent themselves exterior of Bergamo: gamers usually underestimated there grew to become extraordinarily useful items of Gasperini’s sport after which, as soon as offered, didn’t meet expectations.
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Will it’s the case with Lookman too? It is unattainable to foretell, however let’s examine how the gamers from whom Atalanta has made probably the most cash have fared away from Bergamo.
1. Rasmus Højlund (77.8 million to Man United)
Probably the most worthwhile sale in Atalanta’s historical past was that of Rasmus Højlund, who in July 2023, after just one season in Bergamo, joined Manchester United for a determine near 78 million euros.
Enormous revenue for him, purchased simply twelve months earlier from Sturm Graz for 17 million. Because of the damage of Duván Zapata, the Dane secured a beginning place within the workforce and was notably observed for a optimistic streak of 4 objectives in as many matches.
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Højlund has not totally satisfied at United: in Manchester too he was observed for some streaks of specific productiveness (eight objectives in eight matches within the first season, 5 in 4 within the second). If you happen to do not depend the 2 streaks, the participant has solely scored 13 objectives in 83 matches performed.
Not that there was an absence of dedication or the need to sweat for the shirt, and definitely Højlund was not the perfect served ahead within the Premier League. Nevertheless, some optimistic intervals could have led to overestimating his efficiency.
2. Mateo Retegui (68.25 million to Al-Qadsiah)
Clearly, it’s too early to evaluate Mateo Retegui’s efficiency after the sale, because the participant has simply arrived in Saudi Arabia and subsequently has not but had time to make an impression for Al-Qadsiah. Nevertheless, he have to be talked about because the second most costly outgoing switch in Atalanta’s historical past.
The Argentine naturalized Italian represented one other nice revenue for the Dea: acquired for 25 million from Genoa in August 2024, he left after only one yr for a determine of greater than 40 million euros increased.
3. Teun Koopmeiners (58.4 million to Juventus)
Teun Koopmeiners totally represents the kind of participant who struggles to get going away from Bergamo: his yr in bianconero was one of many largest disappointments of the complete 2024/25 Serie A season.
Clearly, we do not even have to say it, it is one other enormous revenue for the Dea: acquired from AZ Alkmaar in August 2021 for 12 million and offered in August 2024 for nearly 5 instances as a lot.
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After three seasons through which he had established himself because the strongest midfielder in Serie A, in bianconero he struggled to discover a place underneath Thiago Motta and was not in a position to totally get better even underneath Igor Tudor.
Too many tactical adjustments, problem to find a constant place on the sector, just a few too many accidents and fluctuating athletic circumstances led Koopmeiners to be ineffective in entrance of aim and to be a “thriller object” of the Juventus season.
4. Cristian Romero (52 million to Tottenham)
Cristian Romero maybe represents an exception on this record: he’s the one one among these gamers to have decidedly established himself within the workforce he joined after Atalanta.
The Argentine arrived in Bergamo in 2020 on a two-year mortgage from Juventus (4 million) and was purchased again for 16+bonus. In London, the place he arrived for over 50 million the next yr, he grew to become one of many pillars of the Spurs’ protection, with which he received the 2024/25 Europa League being named the perfect participant of the competitors.
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A stage of efficiency that allowed Romero to be known as up for the 2022 World Cup and subsequently to be within the Argentine workforce that received the World Cup in Qatar.
5. Dejan Kulusevski (39 million to Juventus)
If Lookman’s switch to Inter doesn’t materialize, the switch of Dejan Kulusevski to Juventus for 39 million euros will stay the fifth most worthwhile sale in Atalanta’s historical past.
Kulusevski arrived at Dea at youth stage from Brommapojkarna, to play solely thrice within the first workforce, earlier than establishing himself on mortgage at Parma within the 2019/2020 season after which being purchased by Juventus.
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The connection with the Previous Woman struggled to take off: he too paid for a sure tactical instability, getting used as a winger, playmaker or second striker, solely to see his position considerably downsized with the return of Massimiliano Allegri to the bench.
And Lookman? Will he transfer to Inter and handle to interrupt the curse of Atalanta’s huge gross sales?
This text was translated into English by Synthetic Intelligence.
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