Gasperini Day
2025 summer mercato analysis — Part 3: Atalanta
There might not be a football club in the world that is as synonymous with a specific coach as Atalanta are with Gian Piero Gasperini. On a cultural level, Atalanta are a relatively prominent Italian club historically. In 2025, the province of Bergamo — which Atalanta ostensibly represent — has a population of well over a million, and, having been founded in 1907, Atalanta are a club with plenty of history. By all means, Atalanta are a historical Serie A club, spending a lot more time in Serie A than outside of it ever since their second promotion to it in 1937. The club also shockingly won the Coppa Italia in 1964, and had some fringe European appearances around the twilight of the 80’s. Still, this European period consisted of Atalanta qualifying for the Cup Winners Cup after losing the Coppa Italia final, in the same season they were relegated, and then once they returned to Serie A they finished sixth once and seventh the next season, thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup twice. These are asterisks in a sporting history that is otherwise defined by complete mediocrity — the Coppa Italia triumph in ’64 an isolated event on top of that. Of course, this is until the year of 2016, when Gian Piero Gasperini became the head coach of Atalanta. In his first season, Gasperini’s Atalanta finished fourth — their best-ever single-season placement in Serie A up to that point. In Gasperini’s second season, Atalanta finished seventh, qualifying for the Europa League for a second time — tying the amount of times Atalanta had done so prior to Gasperini’s arrival (albeit it was the UEFA Cup back then). In Gasperini’s third season, he went to the Coppa Italia final and finished third in Serie A, leading Atalanta to the Champions League for the first time in their history. Atalanta would finish third the following two seasons as well, even going to the Champions League quarter finals in the earlier of those seasons. Then, in Gasperini’s sixth season, Atalanta would hit somewhat of a slump… although they only finished as low as eighth, before finishing fifth in Gasperini’s seventh season. In his eighth season, Gasperini led Atalanta back to fifth in Serie A, as they also returned to the Champions League by winning the Europa League — the only trophy they have ever won outside of that 1964 Coppa Italia. In his ninth season, Gasperini would lead Atalanta to another third-place finish in Serie A, before finally departing the club. Of course, this is just scratching the surface of what the Gasperini era at Atalanta entailed, but the point is to contrast the success he immediately attained at the club, to what the club had previously attained; the point is that Atalanta’s status underwent an immediate, radical and permanent change of status upon Gasperini’s arrival at the club. Football fans who have any coherent image in their head of what Atalanta were prior to Gasperini’s arrival are in the minority today; on a sporting plane, Gian Piero Gasperini is Atalanta. What other coach can you say that about?
On the other hand, the honest truth is that all of what has been written above is merely a narrative — one which might very well overestimate Gasperini’s importance to Atalanta. His greatness and his impact on Atalanta should be both emphasized and celebrated, but the truth is that Atalanta are more than just Gasperini. I made this same point last year, and the man I praised back then was Giovanni Sartori — Atalanta’s technical director between 2014–2022. My notion that Atalanta’s ascent largely started with him still holds a lot of weight, but in retrospect I am a bit embarrassed that there is one name that you cannot find at any point in that aforementioned article: Percassi. By all means, I made it very clear that Atalanta have remained a highly competent club following Sartori’s departure, but I probably should have done more to explain why this is. Atalanta’s golden era really started with Antonio and Luca Percassi. In the summer of 2010, Antonio Percassi returned as president of Atalanta, and his 30-year old son, Luca, became their CEO. In the following season, Atalanta immediately gained promotion back to Serie A, and this duo remains in their respective roles today — they are the one constant over the last 15 years. Last year I pointed out how it was Giovanni Sartori who hired Gasperini in the first place… but who hired Sartori? Sartori, too, would leave Atalanta eventually, and yet the club has by all means stayed afloat since then — how can that be? Well, it’s Antonio and Luca Percassi who administrate this excellent sporting project. When Sartori left, Tony D’Amico was brought in, and as good as Sartori is, I don’t think Atalanta really miss him. Naturally this brings us to Gasperini — how will Atalanta cope without him? Well, with all due respect to him, I like the bet on Atalanta being just fine. With that being said, let’s discuss who they did choose to replace identify Gian Piero Gasperini: Gian Piero Gasperini! It’s always Gian Piero Gasperini. There is no Atalanta without Gian Piero Gasperini.
Priceless advice from a CEO: Continuity, it’s good
I’ve been going back and forth on whether or not to address that Atalanta’s coaching hire has been massively criticized, and I’ve decided that I probably should. The narrative that Atalanta are this excellent organization that doesn’t depend on individuals is ostensibly not supported by them replacing their most important employee ever with 2025 Ivan Jurić. The thing is, I just strongly disagree — it might very well be the complete opposite in my eyes actually. Obviously, I am not obtuse to why people are low on Jurić, but I do think most critics of this move are obtuse to why Atalanta are high on Jurić. It is such an incredibly obvious hire, and it is such an incredibly easy case to make. Ivan Jurić is Gian Piero Gasperini… well, he still has to prove that he can be anywhere near as good, but you cannot find a coach in the world who is as similar to Gasperini as Jurić is. Yes, it is true that Jurić is just one of a number of coaches who previously worked with Gasperini and is now seen as one of their descendants — Thiago Motta and Raffaele Palladino being two other major names, who Atalanta also strongly considered at that. Even Igor Tudor may never have worked with Gasperini, but certainly bears a resemblance to him in his approach, while also having a pre-existing relationship with Atalanta’s Tony D’Amico as well as experience coaching in Italy. What can be argued is that one of Motta, Palladino and Tudor would have been a more appropriate choice for Atalanta than Ivan Jurić. What cannot be argued is that Ivan Jurić is some sort of odd man out among those four candidates. He is the Gian Piero Gasperini descendant — Atalanta were always going to consider him upon Gasperini’s departure.
So, who is Ivan Jurić? Well, let’s start here: back in the late 2000’s he played for Genoa, along with Raffaele Palladino and Thiago Motta; under Gian Piero Gasperini. Upon his player retirement in 2010, Jurić remained at Genoa to coach the primavera, he got his coaching license, and then Gasperini brought him along as an assistant when he moved to Inter. When Gasperini later moved to Palermo, Jurić would follow him once more, before resuming his head coaching career in 2013. In 2015–16, he led Crotone to Serie A for the first time in their history, and in the following season he returned to Genoa as head coach of the first team… replacing Gian Piero Gasperini. So, Genoa “did it” first, and how did it work out for them? Well, they finished 16th in Jurić’s first season, but they did rank ninth in expected points (via Understat). Still, Jurić would lose his job early on in the next season (although even at that point his team was still underperforming its underlying numbers to a comical degree), and his coaching career hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. It wasn’t until 2019 that Jurić got a job at a different club, but this would also go on to become perhaps his most impressive coaching tenure of his career. Despite it being Hellas Verona’s first season back in Serie A, Jurić would lead them to a ninth-place finish in his first season at the club — similarly ranking 10th in xPTS (via Understat). The squad he had at his disposal was a very mixed bag. On the one hand, none other than Tony D’Amico had brought in the likes of Amir Rrahmani from Dinamo Zagreb, Federico Dimarco on loan from Inter, Matteo Pessina on loan from Atalanta and Sofyan Amrabat from Club Brugge, while other notable players include Marash Kumbulla and Mattia Zaccagni. On the other hand, the squad was largely old and highly uninspiring outside of that — certainly, it was not the ninth strongest in the league that season… nor was it the following season, when Hellas Verona finished 10th; ninth in xPTS (via Understat).
Following a successful tenure at Hellas Verona, Jurić would move to Torino, leading them to a 10th-place finish in his first season, despite them having finished 17th in the previous season. It is true that Torino ranked 12th in xPTS in 20–21, but they also ranked ninth in xPTS upon Jurić taking over in 2021–22 — a lot closer to European teams like Fiorentina and Lazio than any of the teams below them, at that. It was a serious achievement, and Jurić was seemingly building on the success he had achieved in Verona, but from his first season at Torino it only really went downwards… well, Jurić’s Toro finished 10th even in his second season at the club, and in his third and final season at the club they actually finished ninth, but the underlying numbers had regressed, Torino had failed to make the leap into the European competitions, and many thought it just didn’t feel the same. A few months following Jurić’s departure from Torino, Roma would call him to make him their interim coach. Less than a year later, he is known by some as the worst coach in Roma history. Having lost 10 of his 12 games in charge of Southampton in the same season, some would even call him the worst coach in Premier League history as well. But he’s not — he’s not a bad coach at all. As for his Torino tenure, the grass isn’t always greener: they may only have regressed from ninth to 11th in Serie A following Jurić’s departure, but their points tally regressed from 53 to 44, their expected points regressed from 55.59 to 39.00 (via Understat), and their expected goal difference regressed from +0.3 to -15.8 (via FBref). It is true that Alessandro Buongiorno would be sold to Napoli between these seasons, but Saúl Coco was not a bad replacement. They also lost Raoul Bellanova, although they replaced him with Marcus Holmgren Pedersen, and at the time it hadn’t been too long since he had been playing at a high level at Feyenoord. Duván Zapata would suffer a season-ending injury after seven games in 2024–25, further weakening the team, but while going from him to Ché Adams was a certain downgrade, it could have been a bigger one. Additionally, Torino had added Guillermo Maripán, Adam Masina and Borna Sosa in the summer following Jurić’s exit, as well as Cesare Casadei, Eljif Elmas and Cristiano Biraghi in January. Certainly, the difference in quality between the players Jurić had at his disposal in 2023–24 and the players Paolo Vanoli had at his disposal in 2024–25 was not as significant as the disparity in results and overall level of performances — thus highlighting Jurić’s value.
Furthermore, while Jurić clearly failed at Roma, his tenure was nowhere near as poor as implied. Worst coach in Roma history? In my eyes, he’s probably not even the worst coach in recent Roma history; that would have to be Daniele De Rossi. Following De Rossi’s arrival as interim head coach in 2023–24, Roma would rank 10th in expected points, with an average that had regressed by about 15.4% from when José Mourinho was in charge, and he was fired for it. The results were good, and some would contend that the results are all that matter, but despite Roma having a statement summer and adding the likes of Artem Dovbyk, Matías Soulé, Enzo Le Fée and Manu Koné, the results would plummet too in the following season. De Rossi’s Roma would drop points to Cagliari, lose at home to Empoli, draw to Juventus, draw to Genoa, and he would subsequently lose his job. Quite the easy schedule to start the season, yet only three points in four games. Roma’s situation then spiraled as fans had become outraged at both the ownership and then-CEO Lina Souloukou, creating a viscerally toxic atmosphere around the club. Naturally, this was the situation that Jurić took over. Needless to say he didn’t receive much support, in fact he quickly became antagonized by many of the club’s supporters after some poor results. By all means, those results included a draw to Monza, a shocking 5–1 defeat to Fiorentina, a loss to Elfsborg in the Europa League and a loss to Hellas Verona — again, Jurić’s tenure at Roma was unequivocally a failure in the end. That said, it was also an incredibly difficult situation for anyone to handle. Of course, we now know that a certain somebody was able to handle that situation, but it’s easy to forget that even Claudio Ranieri — who was made to steer Roma out of a crisis — had a terrible start in his most recent- and final coaching stint at Roma. Jurić ultimately survived eight Serie A games at Roma before being sacked, and some will reference how Roma were just outside the relegation zone during his time at the club, but this is only somewhat true if you 1) look exclusively at the gap in points, and 2) count De Rossi’s time at the club — over the eight-game span Jurić was in charge, Roma ranked ninth in points won. The points tally of 10 over that period is worse than the ranking would imply, but that is actually only one point less than Claudio Ranieri won in his first eight league games at Roma last season. Additionally, Roma amassed 11.14 xPTS over Jurić’s eight games, while they amassed 10.21 over Ranieri’s first eight games (via Understat) — albeit the sample size is obviously limited, and Ranieri faced a notably tougher schedule. All in all it was a failure, but an understandable one that was also vastly overstated by the genereal public. Similarly, Jurić’s time at Southampton was undeniably horrific, but consider that the team had won just six points in 17 league games by the time he coached his first game with them — it was an unsalvageable situation.
Admittedly I am forging a rather one-sided narrative here, but I think the signs that Jurić is a good coach are quite clear. He has endured some low lows, but whenever he’s worked within a competent organization he has done well. Not only are Atalanta just that — and Jurić even deserves some faith for having won the confidence of them — but there’s a clear parallel between Jurić and Gasperini even in terms of their reputations/careers when Atalanta chose to hire them respectively. Gasperini was 58 at the time, and had previously enjoyed a successful spell at Genoa in the 2000’s, but had failed miserably at Inter, had later failed at Palermo, and his return to Genoa had been a mixed bag. Jurić doesn’t turn 50 until August, and his career up to this point is not much worse than Gasperini’s was when Atalanta hired him. Moreover, let’s look beyond the results and patterns and once more address why this move really makes sense for Atalanta: continuity. Jurić does not merely have close ties to Gasperini, but also has a similar approach — most notably in the form of a back-four formation and a highly aggressive man-marking press. This has been the foundation of numerous primarily defensively solid teams led by Jurić, and this could appear like a stark contrast to Gasperini, but it really doesn’t have to be. Over time, Gasperini has gained the reputation as a hyper-offensive coach, but this has not always been the case. For instance, in his best season at Genoa, Gasperini’s team ranked seventh in in goals scored (14 shy of first) while ranking fifth in goals conceded (seven shy of first). More notably, Gasperini’s later Atalanta teams would find it increasingly difficult to create chances, and subsequently leaned more on defensive solidity, although the goal-scoring numbers were often strong nonetheless. In any case, whereas Jurić’s Torino went on to develop a reputation as being extremely boring, it was perhaps not all that different from Gasperini’s later Atalanta teams — teams fully capable of winning 5–0 in any given week, but also often struggling to score at all. If anything, I think what you can criticize about Atalanta hiring Jurić is their unwillingness to embrace a new identity in the aftermath of the Gasperini era — especially as his teams weren’t flawless in his last seasons at the club. At the same time, I totally understand the thought process behind it.
A 2023 study by Off The Pitch declared Atalanta as the most sustainably ran club in Europe, and regardless of what you make of that, this aspect is at the heart of their enterprise. Some might even have a cynical attitude towards this, wherein “sustainability” becomes a buzz word for undermining the ambition to win by selling your best players yet not spending much on your own team in turn. Still, it is important not to lose perspective — just because Atalanta have ascended to being able to compete with any given club in Italian football, does not mean that they have the same conditions for success as their competitors. In fact, that disparity in terms of revenue streams and general influence is what makes Atalanta’s project so impressive. Atalanta are a “selling club”, but I think it’s naive to think that this holds their sporting results back — more so, they are attaining great results for a club that has to sell, by means of competence. Say what you want, but this is the winning formula for Atalanta, and the hope is that it will be the basis of more material success in the long run. By having hired Jurić, they have adhered to this formula, and they already have all the results to back it up with. If we look at the other candidates Atalanta considered, I think it’s easy to see why they landed on Jurić. As for Tudor, well, Juventus never ended up letting go of him anyway, so he was never available — it is otherwise quite likely that he would have been Atalanta’s choice. As for Raffaele Palladino, although he likes to set up with a back-three and is some sort of descendant of Gasperini, his approach in recent seasons really suggests otherwise. He had an excellent start to his coaching career as a caretaker coach at Monza in 2022–23, but since then he has failed to deliver in terms of results, underlying numbers, and in the effectiveness of his press. In 2023–24, Palladino’s Monza ranked 18th in xGD, 15th in xPTS and 15th in passes [allowed] per defensive action, and in 2024–25 his Fiorentina ranked ninth in xGD, ninth in xPTS and 16th in PPDA (xPTS and PPDA via Understat, xGD via FBref). As for Thiago Motta, he isn’t without career failures either, and on top of that there many Atalanta players that aren’t ideal for his style of play — back-four, technical ability, positional fluidity and hybrid pressing — which is particularly concerning considering one of his fatal flaws at Juventus was his inability to adapt to the players he had at his disposal. As for Jurić, he has had his failings up to this point, but, again, so had Gasperini when Atalanta hired him — Atalanta were ultimately rewarded for assessing Gasperini off of his characteristics rather than his pure results, and they might very well be rewarded for doing the same with Jurić.
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Squad review — Stay/Leave/Loan
- Marco Carnesecchi: Stay
He has enjoyed good periods and worse periods in recent years, preventing a fully fledged breakout season, but Marco Carnesecchi is now beginning to establish himself as a high-quality goalkeeper. The truth is that this means that bigger/more powerful clubs will come calling quite soon — there have already been plenty reports of interest in the goalkeeper — but a sale seems more likely in 2026. - Juan Musso: Leave (€3m)
After a loan spell in 2024–25, Juan Musso was recently signed permanently by Atlético de Madrid for a base fee of €3m. - Rui Patrício: Leave (expiring contract)
Rui Patrício’s Atalanta stint was unexpected, and it ended up lasting just a year, forcing Atalanta to identify a new backup goalkeeper. - Francesco Rossi: Stay
His lack of experience combined with his age of 34 would make him somewhat of an odd choice to be Atalanta’s backup goalkeeper, but Atalanta have been working on a contract extension for Francesco Rossi, implying that this will be his role next season. - Odilon Kossounou: Stay (€20m renegotiated option to buy)
After a renegotiation of Atalanta’s option to buy Odilon Kossounou following last season, the Ivorian defender is set to stay at Atalanta on a permanent basis. Good decision? Bad decision? Personally, I’m not a huge fan. Kossounou should be well-suited for a back-three and a team that values progressiveness in possession and combativeness out of possession. However, at 1.91 m there is a certain awkwardness and lack of control that plagues Kossounou in possession, while he also struggles with duels out of possession. For €20m I think you could have gotten more. - Stefano Posch: Leave (expiring loan)
Did you guys like this signing - Ben Godfrey: Leave (loan with €7m option to buy)
I didn’t love Ben Godfrey as a player when Atalanta signed him, but thought maybe they saw something in him and could turn him into an okay squad player. They did not. Or, at least, the signing just didn’t work out at all. It is almost certain that Godfrey will leave Atalanta this summer, the question is what the formula of a deal will be — I think a loan with option to buy is the most likely outcome. - Isak Hien: Stay
I will continue to refer to his time at my Djurgården every single time I talk about Isak Hien — he is very close to my heart. At the same time, relative to the level he’s currently playing at I do have some reservations about him as a player. Out of possession I think he struggles defending larger spaces, and in possession I think the excellence he showed in Sweden has really failed to translate. That said, he was a very good fit under Gian Piero Gasperini, and he is one of a number players who therefore make Ivan Jurić an appropriate successor. - Rafael Tolói: Leave (expiring contract)
Rafael Tolói has seen his playing time at Atalanta decrease in recent seasons, making it no surprise that he’s set to leave the club as his contract expires this summer. Ranking sixth in all-time appearances for Atalanta, he is immortalized as an Atalanta legend. - Berat Djimsiti: Stay
Not too dissimilarly from Rafael Tolói, Berat Djimsiti is one of Atalanta’s players in the modern era with a lower profile and an apparent lack of interest from bigger clubs, which is what has allowed him to establish himself as one of their greats, even if he hasn’t necessarily been their most outstanding player. Djimsiti ranks 10th in all-time appearances for Atalanta, and at 32 years old there’s really no sign that he is being phased out any time soon — he is still an important player. - Giorgio Scalvini: Stay
When you see that Giorgio Scalvini turns 22 at the end of this year, you feel that he’s beginning to get old. He has been around for a while now, and it’s really unfortunate that he practically missed the entirety last season through injuries. Having been one of the more highly touted young defenders on the planet going into the season, it could have been a big breakout for Scalvini, but there’s still time for that to happen next season. - Sead Kolašinac: Stay
Last year I wrote about Sead Kolašinac’s time at Atalanta in a somewhat patronizing way, which I have since come to regret. Within the context of a back-three Kolašinac still has a lot to give — he’s an excellent disruptive defender without the ball, and he has many progressive and attacking qualities with the ball. Atalanta choosing to extend Kolašinac’s contract until 2026 was a good move! - Raoul Bellanova: Stay
Raoul Bellanova had his senior breakout season while at Ivan Jurić’s Torino in 2023–24, and the two are now set to reunite. Naturally, this is another player who makes Ivan Jurić a good fit at Atalanta. - Juan Cuadrado: Leave (expiring contract)
Juan Cuadrado’s one-year spell at Atalanta ended up being slightly better than expected, but the 37-year old looks set to leave the club as his contract expires this summer. - Marco Palestra: Stay
A product of Atalanta’s famous youth sector, Marco Palestra boasts a good amount of senior experience and could make the definitive leap into the first team after primarily playing with Atalanta’s Serie C team last season. More specifically, he could replace Juan Cuadrado as the backup right wing-back to Raoul Bellanova. - Marten de Roon: Stay
At 34 years old, Marten de Roon is beginning to get up there in age, but for now the Atalanta icon still has gas left in the tank, and he has remained an undisputed starter in this team — his defensive solidity and progressive passing having been much appreciated Gasperini. We’ll see if his status remains the same under Jurić, but I don’t see why not. Assuming nothing changes, we could see Marten de Roon surpass Gianpaolo Bellini as the all-time leader in appearances for Atalanta next season. - Ibrahim Sulemana: Leave (€9m)
It’s probably easy to overestimate Ibrahim Sulemana’s run at the end of last season as a sign of him being set for a breakout season in 2025–26. At the end of the day he only played 3.4 90s in all competitions all season, and he’s a defensive-oriented midfielder who happened to score two goals as he got a chance to play towards the end of that season. Sulemana did only just turn 22 and flashed plenty of quality at Hellas Verona and Cagliari, so I don’t exclude that he could remain as a backup to Marten de Roon next season. Still, Atalanta cashing in on Sulemana after just a year seems more probable to me. Crucially, he arrived to Atalanta through a deal that very much had the optics of primarily having been made for accounting purposes rather than squad-building purposes. Sulemana’s lack of playing time last year also seems to back that up, but with his performances around the end of the season, his age and his previous experience in Serie A, I can see more than a few clubs being interested in making a move for him this summer. In that scenario, Atalanta could also sign someone a bit more convincing as a short-term backup and potential long-term successor to Marten de Roon. - Éderson: Leave (€60m)
Éderson has seemingly grown exponentially since joining Atalanta in 2022, and now he’s reached the stage where remaining at Atalanta virtually isn’t on the table; all sorts of big clubs are interested, and he’s stayed in Bergamo for “long enough” by now. A sale in the region of €60m is essentially a guarantee, and Atalanta will thereby lose one of their most important players. - Mario Pašalić: Stay
A departure of Mario Pašalić from Atalanta as his contract expires this summer cannot be excluded, but from the outside looking in it seems as though Atalanta intend to keep him and that a contract extension is fully viable — perhaps only a matter of time even. - Marco Brescianini: Stay (€11m obligation to buy)… then leave (€1m loan with €8m option to buy)
Marco Brescianini has an odd profile for a midfielder, he struggled for playing time in his first season at Atalanta, and it’s difficult to see where he will fit in next season. He could serve as the backup to Mario Pašalić, but not only does he not have the ideal possessional skillset for that role, this outcome would also likely see Atalanta elect not to replace Éderson with a new signing, which is contradicted by both reports and, well, logic. If Atalanta elect to play a 3–4–1–2, Brescianini could possibly stay as the backup attacking midfielder — to one of Lazar Samardžić, Daniel Maldini or Charles De Ketelaere — but this would likely see Atalanta elect not to make any attacking signing, which is also contradicted by reports. Brescianini could also stay as a mere fringe piece, but I think it’s more likely that Atalanta just move on from him — this isn’t a move that has worked out. - Davide Zappacosta: Stay
Well into his 30’s, Davide Zappacosta has perhaps finally established himself as the player it had once been hoped he would become: an attacking wing-back who is excellent at progressing the ball, and who can be impactful in numerous ways in the final third. Maybe Atalanta don’t need more of a difference maker at left wing-back after all — they already have one in Zappacosta. - Matteo Ruggeri: Stay
Matteo Ruggeri, too, is a good wing-back, but while he’s still yet to turn 23 and offers potential, the truth is that Davide Zappacosta is simply better for the time being. At the same time, having competition in one position is not bad, especially if neither of the players involved is demanding to be a starter. - Charles De Ketelaere: Stay
Charles De Ketelaere has seen his career be revived- yet has simultaneously also been very hot and cold during his time at Atalanta. That said, he’s a very solid attacking player who should remain a starter next season. - Lazar Samardžić: Stay (€20m obligation to buy)
Lazar Samardžić had a very quiet and by no means unproblematic debut season at Atalanta, amassing just 18.2 90s in all competitions. Maybe that will change with a change of coach, but next season should be make-or-break for Samardžić at Atalanta. - Mateo Retegui: Stay
Coming off of an exceptional breakout season, Mateo Retegui will stay at Atalanta if they can retain him. - Gianluca Scamacca: Stay
Gianluca Scamacca should ideally be a primary starter, but coming off of a season of which he nearly missed the entirety due to injury issues, perhaps it’s good that he can be eased back in this upcoming season. Even in his first season in Bergamo, Scamacca played just 25.7 90s in all competitions. - Ademola Lookman: Leave (€50m)
Along with Éderson, Ademola Lookman is one of Atalanta’s key players who is more or less guaranteed to depart the club in the summer, and reports suggest that a sale could be worth around €50m. - Daniel Maldini: Stay
Many a time Daniel Maldini has been accused of being a nepo baby, but the further he has grown from Milan in recent years, the more I have been convinced of his abilities. Truthfully, nepotism is a double-edged sword: it can lead to unfair opportunities, but it can also lead to people being overlooked due to their blatant links to other people of prominence. The latter might apply to Daniel Maldini. At 1.88 m, he is a technical, powerful and dynamic attacking player who could explode upon simply being given an opportunity in the right environment. - Leonardo Mendicino: Loan
After a loan spell with Cesena in Serie B, Atalanta academy product Leonardo Mendicino is likely overqualified for their u23 team in Serie C, and could spend another season in Serie B next year, although hopefully with a bigger role than the one he had at Cesena. - Vanja Vlahović: Loan
Having scored 22 goals in Serie C last year, 21-year old Vanja Vlahović is gaining prominence at Atalanta, and could be a Serie A loan away from establishing himself in Atalanta’s first team. - Siren Diao: Loan
A player who I’m not yet particularly familiar with, but whose experience in Spain’s Segunda División implies that he, too, is overqualified for Serie C, and could therefore spend next season out on loan. - Giorgio Cittadini: Leave (loan with €2m option to buy)
Who’s keeping track, huh? - Moustapha Cissé: Leave (loan with €2m option to buy)
Who’s keeping track, huh? - Samuel Giovane: Leave (loan with €3.5m option to buy)
Samuel Giovane’s output in Serie B last season was actually quWho’s keeping track, huh? - Andrea Oliveri: Leave (€1m)
Who’s keeping track, huh? - Federico Zuccon: Leave (€1m)
Who’s keeping track, huh? - Giovanni Bonfanti: Leave (€2m)
Who’s keepin track, huh? - El Bilal Touré: Leave (€3m loan with €15m option to buy)
It’s such a shame that it hasn’t worked out for El Bilal Touré over these past two years. In his first year at Atalanta he was hampered by injuries, but was electric the few times he did play. The same can really be said about his tenure at Stuttgart last season. Sure enough, since leaving Almería in 2023, El Bilal Touré has amassed just 10.9 90s in all club competitions. His future surely isn’t at Atalanta, but let’s hope he can stay healthy and prove himself elsewhere. - Michel Adopo + Roberto Piccoli (€16m)
This is linked to the Ibrahim Sulemana deal, and is close to being done! - Mitchel Bakker: €8m
After a very pale first season at Atalanta, Mitchel Bakker had a successful loan spell at Lille last season. Atalanta look set to take advantage of this by cashing in on Bakker, but how much he will go for this summer is to be determined — €8m could be on the lower side, but I’m not sure he was quite good enough last season to be the subject of an intense bidding war this summer.
Projected signings
Saba Goglichidze (€7m)
Atalanta have previously faced competition from the likes of Milan, Juventus and Roma in their pursuit of Empoli’s Saba Goglichidze, but with Empoli’s relegation to Serie B and the general interest in Goglichidze seemingly waning slightly, this could be an excellent market opportunity for Atalanta. Goglichidze’s rawness became increasingly apparent as last season went on, but no less so due to the fact that he was playing in a team that was ultimately relegated. More importantly, Goglichidze doesn’t turn 21 until next week, he only had senior experience in Georgia’s Erovnuli Liga prior to last season, and in that season he showed lots of promising signs. He’s a strong, fluid and athletic defender with flashes of technical ability on top of his combative defending, and Atalanta could be the perfect place for him to develop in peace — especially as he would only take on a rotational role initially. From Atalanta’s perspective, not only is Goglichidze an undervalued, exciting prospect, but he also corresponds with their need for depth in the defensive department.
Valentin Atangana (€10m)
Once more, this is a move that would see Atalanta pounce on a young, promising player on a team that was recently relegated. But in the case of Valentin Atangana, he is much more prepared for first team football than Goglichidize, despite being over a year younger. Atangana has already amassed 45.8 90s for Reims, having slowly but surely cemented himself as a starter over these past couple of years. Despite his height of 1.73 m and his slightly short legs, Atangana is already a great defender — frenetic, strong and fundamentally sound. Simultaneously, his low center of gravity makes him a very comfortable technician. As such, the occasional comparison to N’Golo Kanté may appear lazy, but it is by no means baseless. Given how accomplished Atangana already is as a teenager — at least in terms of his performances — it wouldn’t surprise me if he turned into Atalanta’s next smash hit signing. He adds depth to a midfield that is getting old and needs support, and he could also be an excellent asset for Atalanta. Atangana was linked with Atalanta last winter, and if he’s available for anything in the region of €10m this summer, I think Atalanta would be ill-advised not to make an attempt to sign him.
Samuele Ricci (€25m)
Having been linked with clubs like Manchester City, Arsenal, Inter, and — most notably — Milan over the last year, Samuele Ricci’s stocks seem to have dropped quite suddenly in recent times, and now a move to Atalanta could be on the cards. Whereas I maintain that Ricci is yet to be optimized by any of the coaches he’s had in Serie A — including Ivan Jurić — I do think this could be a sensible move. Ricci is not your stereotypical Atalanta player — he is defined by subtle effectiveness and intelligence more so than athleticism and outstanding actions. Perhaps more notably, despite his lack of defensive aggressiveness, Ricci at least fits the bill of a deep-lying midfielder, which Atalanta may not appear to be in need of considering Marten de Roon’s presence at the club. Fair enough, this is a signing I probably wouldn’t have thought of myself, but I do think it makes sense. First of all, Atalanta’s double-pivot during the Gasperini era was largely made up of two players who could be defined as defensive-/holding midfielders — most notably Remo Freuler and Marten de Roon as well as Éderson and Marten de Roon. This could work particularly well with Ricci and De Roon considering how their respective skillsets complement each other. Whereas De Roon is a more direct and progressive passer, Ricci likes to take care of the ball, evade pressure, and he is a prolific decision-maker. And whereas De Roon is quite an aggressive, duel-heavy defender, Ricci is more of the sweeping type, who relies on positioning, timing and reading of the game rather than athletic traits. In fact, while it’s easy to dismiss Ricci as a player who avoids risk at all costs, when he does progress play it often comes in the form of ball-carrying, which complements De Roon’s habit of progressive passing quite well. Ricci reuniting Ivan Jurić — who he spent two seasons and a half with at Torino — also places further emphasis on continuity. If Torino’s asking price for Ricci drops following an external decrease in interest, this could be another excellent market opportunity for Atalanta.
Igor Paixão (€35m)
Igor Paixão would be an uncharacteristically expensive signing for Atalanta — €30.8m for El Bilal Touré is their most expensive signing to date according to Transfermarkt. That said, they have reportedly been interested in Igor Paixão for many months now, and with Ademola Lookman set to leave, an ambitious signing such as this one to replace him might be warranted in the summer. Paixão has long been an eye-catching player thanks to his fluidity, quickness and flair, but this past season he has finally taken a leap in terms of his final third impact, amassing 26 non-penalty goal contributions in 31.9 90s in the Eredivisie. It is only fair to point out that his non-penalty expected goals + expected assisted goals per 90 was “only” at 0.55 (still in the 89th percentile in his position group), but that coincided with a down year for Feyenoord as a whole — despite this, Paixão persevered and was better than ever before. What makes him appealing beyond his output is his stylistic similarity to Lookman — despite his lack of size, his speed, trickery and sharpness make him a lethal, dynamic forward. Continuity thereby seems to be a theme that would be further reinforced with this move. Meanwhile, if the concern with Ivan Jurić is that his teams historically haven’t been good in attack, well, he has rarely ever had attacking players of this caliber at his disposal. I think this would be a statement signing by Atalanta that goes against the idea that they’re not trying to win.
Final depth chart
Total income: €154m
Total expenditure: €131m
Closing thoughts
From the choice of Ivan Jurić as the new head coach to the squad-building, continuity and stability seem to be the central themes of Atalanta going into next season. Even though they are set to lose two of their very best players, I doubt the squad will change too dramatically. As you can see above, my projected primary starting lineup contains merely two new signings, and so does the secondary one. As for the departures of Éderson and Ademola Lookman, I think Samuele Ricci and Igor Paixão are two very worthy replacements. Again, these two also emphasize the continuity aspect, with Ricci having plenty of experience working alongside Ivan Jurić, and Paixão having plenty of stylistic similarities to Lookman. But, of course, Atalanta’s emphasizing of continuity is primarily found in the hire of Ivan Jurić, and I do understand the reservations about this move. Even if you don’t hold his failures from this past season against him, Jurić’s offensive struggles at Torino are a legitimate concern. Yes, things could get better with better players, but in Jurić’s final season at Torino, they ranked 17th in xG in Serie A (via FBref), despite Jurić having had players like Duván Zapata, Raoul Bellanova and Ivan Ilić at his disposal — fair enough, it was quite dry outside of these. In any case, my concern with this move is that it will lower Atalanta’s ceiling. I don’t see them burning up in flames, but especially as competition for the top four spots in Serie A heats up, Atalanta could be in trouble, regressing to a team that consistently finishes between fifth and seventh, rather than in the top four. Atalanta can absolutely be criticized for going for somewhat of a safe choice for the coach, but it should be stressed just how smooth the transition from Gasperini to Jurić should be. Atalanta’s personnel suits Jurić perfectly because, well, it fit Gasperini perfectly — it was explicitly designed to do so, and largely by a man who has already found success working alongside Jurić in the past, in Tony D’Amico. Meanwhile, Atalanta’s alternatives to Jurić would all likely have had some difficulty adapting to the squad, whilst — with all due respect — also all being available to Atalanta for a reason. I do think it’s possible that Atalanta’s attacking play takes a serious hit upon Jurić’s arrival and that they regress from where they were with Gian Piero Gasperini, but not only is that no guarantee, I also believe that there are probably even more concerns with the other coaching candidates that were considered. For instance, who’s to say Atalanta wouldn’t struggle to create chances under Raffaele Palladino? This past season, his Fiorentina ranked just 10th in non-penalty expected goals in Serie A (via FBref) despite having had perhaps the best striker in the league, among players. As for Thiago Motta, his teams have also always had issues with chance creation, and that’s not to mention how he’d likely struggle immensely with getting the most out of Atalanta’s squad. Really, what Ivan Jurić achieved at Hellas Verona and Torino isn’t all that less impressive than what Palladino and Motta have achieved at their best. Jurić probably wasn’t the perfect option for Atalanta, but I do think there’s a great case for him having been the best option. If we look at his time at Torino specifically, he quickly became a victim of having set the bar too high for himself — he turned a very pedestrian team on paper into a borderline European team in his first season, and as time went on and the squad was not improved on, the team stagnated. At Atalanta, Jurić will instead work within an organization that is excellent at both identifying talent and building a cohesive team. In fact, Atalanta’s excellent youth sector shouldn’t be underestimated as a helpful source to Jurić either. In contrast, Torino seem to miss Jurić, and if the significant regression since 2023–24 is not to be primarily attributed to the departure of Jurić, it is at least a reflection of the management that Jurić had to collaborate with whilst he was at Torino. Despite that, the results peaked at excellent, and never stooped below acceptable. Now, I am not willing to bet on Ivan Jurić having the same career development as Gian Piero Gasperini, but I am willing to bet on this move turning out just fine. Atalanta will stay afloat, they always do. After nine years, Gian Piero Gasperini has left Atalanta — a monumental moment in their history; a new day, and yet everything is all the same. Atalanta will always be Gian Piero Gasperini.
