Pierluigi Gollini wrote a message to everyone involved at Atalanta after his move to Tottenham Hotspur this month. ‘Bergamo has been my second home’.
The Italian goalkeeper moved back to England on loan with an option to buy and leaves La Dea after 112 appearances and 38 clean sheets in the process.
He spent three and a half seasons with the Orobici after moving to Bergamo from Aston Villa in January 2017, having previous stints with SPAL youth, Fiorentina, Manchester United youth and Hellas Verona.
The 26-year-old sent a message to the fans at the Gewiss Stadium, thanking them for their time together in the city that has become ‘a second home’ to the Bologna man.
“I write, delete, rewrite, delete again,” he wrote on Instagram. “For days, I have been thinking about how to best express the feelings I’m experiencing, my state of mind.
“Impossible. In words it’s really impossible to make the whole world understand what it was like to empty the locker, my room, take away my things, greet everyone.
“All those people who have been my FAMILY. From warehouse workers, to physiotherapists, those who work in the kitchen at all hours of the day. I will always be grateful to you for what you have given me and for how you treated me, I felt pampered, until the last second.
“Thanks for the good times spent together that I will carry inside me. Bergamo, what to say: THANK YOU!
“Thank you because you have been able to grasp my essence as a man and my hunger on the pitch. I felt like an idol for you and this has always empowered and charged me. I felt like the guardian of your city, a city that has been my second home, that I have loved and that I will always love.
“The Champions League nights, the returns from away games, the chants under the curva will always remain irreplaceable memories. Emotions that I dreamed of experiencing since I was a child.
“Thanks to my teammates! WE made history. WE took to the pitch. WE fought, sweated, lost, won and spit blood together for this shirt.
“You will always be my brothers! And I thank you for what we have experienced together in these seasons! I thank the coach of the goalkeepers, the coaches who worked with me, I owe you a lot. But everything comes to an end.
“My behaviour and my saves are the legacy I leave behind. I’d laugh and redo everything I’ve done another 100 times! Thanks Bergamo. Thank you Percassi family for giving me this wonderful dream.”
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