La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Celtic have further raised their asking price for Matt O’Riley, pushing Atalanta to sign Lazar Samardzic instead.
Atalanta have reached an agreement to sign Samardzic from Udinese and the Serbia international has already arrived in Bergamo to undergo medical tests and sign a contract until 2028 with an option for a further campaign.
It is no secret that Atalanta’s priority for the attacking midfield role was Denmark international O’Riley, but after weeks of negotiations with Celtic, La Dea decided to drop the 23-year-old.
Celtic’s new demands for O’Riley pushed Atalanta to sign Samardzic
According to Gazzetta, the Scottish club recently raised their economic demands for O’Riley, asking for €30m plus add-ons.
Therefore, Atalanta decided to look for alternatives and closed the deal with Udinese in a few days.
According to Sky Sport Italia, Samardzic will move to the Gewiss Stadium for €20m plus €5m add-ons.
Gazzetta reports that despite Samardzic’s imminent purchase, Atalanta still hope to persuade Koopmeiners to stay at the club beyond the summer and snub a move to Juventus.
They were not in negotiations with Celtic as they came nowhere near the asking price, which they were aware of from the off.
Conversation went
Atlantic. How much for O’Reilly
Celtic. £25 million plus
A. Offer £15 million
C. No
A. Offer £15.1 m
C. No
A. Offer £15.5 m
C. No
A. Offer £16 m
C. No, £25 m plus
A. Ok, £17 m
C. No, stop wasting time
A. Ok £17.5 m
C. No, you are time wasters. £30 m plus
Ian, if you’re going to post a snarky comment, at least spell the team and player’s name correctly. Not the same effect when you sound like a delinquent.
I didn’t think Ian sounded like a delinquent. But I do think that Ian B comes across as a bit of a tool.
Why is Gamora?