Wednesday’s reports claim that Atalanta already have three players on their shortlist to replace the departing Mateo Retegui, including the Roma-linked Evan Ferguson and Georges Mikautadze from Lyon.
Reports earlier on Wednesday confirmed that Atalanta have sealed a deal to sell Italy international Retegui to Saudi Pro League side Al-Qadsiah for a whopping €67m after just one season with La Dea.
Once the deal is made officially, Retegui will become the second-most expensive sale in Atalanta’s history, second only to Rasmus Hojlund, who joined Manchester United in a €75m deal in the summer of 2023.
Atalanta’s imminent sale of Retegui leaves new head coach Ivan Juric in need of a new centre-forward to compete with Gianluca Scamacca for the start of the 2025-26 campaign.
According to reports from Gianluca Di Marzio, Atalanta already have three centre-forwards in mind.
Among them is Republic of Ireland international Evan Ferguson from Brighton and Hove Albion, who has also recently been linked with a loan move to join Roma, coincidentally coached by former Atalanta tactician Gian Piero Gasperini.
Unlike Roma, La Dea will be in a position to offer Brighton a permanent deal for Ferguson after the €67m sale of Retegui goes through.
Di Marzio adds that Lyon striker and Georgia international Georges Mikautadze is also a potential option for Juric this summer.
The third possible scenario is the signing of Lorenzo Lucca, who for the majority of the transfer window thus far, has been linked with a move to join Antonio Conte’s Napoli.
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