A summer wish list signing for La Dea, Atalanta finally get their man in Danish wingback Joakim Maehle. The former Genk man has been quite divine so far this year for the Belgians, leading them to 2nd place in the table – only 4 points behind Club Brugge with a game in hand. For only a 10M euro transfer fee, its a handy piece of business for a player that not only can act as backup for Hateboer and Gosens. Genk has been quite kind to Atalanta recently with the transfers of Ruslan Malinovskyi and Timothy Castagne, and hopefully for La Dea’s sake Maehle will be equally as effective in black and blue.
Wingback depth has been La Dea’s biggest problem this year; and with Depaoli, Piccini, and Mojica clearly not up to the level of new Leicester man and ex-Atalantino Timothy Castagne, Maehle is an absolutely essential pick-up that should provide not just depth but quality depth on the wings. Capable of playing on both sides – although he’s only played on the left nationally and is not his preferred side – Maehle is a perfect Gasperini pick-up. Fast, hard-worker, unreal stamina, and some technique to boot, I don’t see any issue with him picking up the high press and running up and down the pitch similarly to what we’ve grown accustomed to with Hateboer.
Although – in my opinion – what separates Maehle from Hateboer is the extra bit of flair that he carries. Hateboer reminds me of a lunch pail kind of player – hardworking, physical, fast, but lacking a bit of technical panache, very Route 1 and direct. Go watch YouTube videos of Maehle, he has a penchant for the odd trick here and there, which Hateboer probably isn’t even capable of, while still providing all of the same qualities Hateboer already offers. In short – I guess what I’m saying is if Maehle can effectively transition from the Juliper League to Serie A, I would not be surprised to see him surpass Hateboer on the depth chart. He already knows the position, he’s younger, equally as quick and hardworking, and technically superior. His workrate suggests he probably has a good head on his shoulders, and looks to be the perfect fit to Gasperini’s well-oiled machine. Plus we get to add another country to the list – and continue to cement Atalanta as UN FC – after the Kjaer disaster last year. Here’s to big things from Maehle, and for only 10M euros, let’s hope he puts another feather in the cap of Atalanta’s supreme European scouting contingency. Welcome Joakim, and Forza La Dea!
