With the paperwork pretty much a formality, Atalanta gets to say goodbye to one ex-Juventus loanee, while welcoming in a second one. Yes, the Cristian Romero saga has finally come to an end – and Atalanta got its biggest payday to date securing an eventual 55M from Tottenham for the Argentine. Losing Romero is a tough pill to swallow, and while 55M can help to ease the pain a bit, not enough can be said about how imposing he was in the middle of Atalanta’s back three. He became the undeniable centerpiece of Atalanta’s most questionable unit, and he was a breath of fresh air over the previous shaky central rotation of Jose Palomino and Mattia Caldara.
It was great to see him blossom under Gasperini and staff’s tutelage, and I think we were fortunate to catch a glimpse of the elite levels he can reach if he stays on his current trajectory.
And while it stings to lose a key piece of the club’s backbone, Atalanta already looks to have plans in place for Romero’s heir apparent (in many ways), Turkish international Merih Demiral.
In fact, the old Atalatino and the new Atalantino have a few encouraging things in common!
-They’re both 23 (born within two months of each other)
-Both came to Atalanta via Juventus on loan (although Romero never played a match with the Old Lady)
-Both are extremely aggressive centerbacks that aren’t afraid of a hard tackle
-Both came to Atalanta incredibly raw and needing gametime to hone their skills
Romero got the match time he needed, and blossomed into one of the best Serie A defenders. Can Demiral replicate Romero’s success, and embarrass Juventus for a second straight year?
That’s a tough question to answer. As fans, we already know the 95-100 percentile outcome with Romero. He came to Atalanta with marginal expectations and he overdelivered. Not often can you triple the value of a player in less than a year (even if you are a Percassi)! Therefore, it is tough to value Demiral with the same measuring stick. We have shifted our mindset on the expectation spectrum, and it almost feels like if Demiral doesn’t immediately become the sheriff in the back three, the transfer will not have lived up to expectations.
I don’t think this is fair to Demiral. He’s coming into a more ambitious Atalanta environment than Romero did, plus he has the added weight of repeating the successes of his ex-Juventus counterpart. Fans will have to fight being driven to black and white conclusions, he’s a Romero carbon copy or a dud. Landing somewhere in the middle is an acceptable and fine outcome.
If Demiral is truly over his knee injury, I think having him slot in as a steady above average Serie A defender is very valuable to Atalanta. And this would be a great outcome still, and absolutely worth his 25M euro option. Steady defenders don’t grow on trees, and far fewer are the ones that have the raw pedigree that Demiral possesses. But those players need to play in order to untap that potential! He only featured in fifteen matches for Juventus last year, and in his previous injury riddled season, he only saw game action in 8 matches. Juventus hardly did him any favors to help him reach his prime (De Ligt looked to be going down that same path for awhile), and I hardly doubt riding the pine was Demiral’s expectation to improve his game when he transferred over from Sassuolo.
Now he’ll finally get the game time he deserves. I’m optimistic that he’ll come good in black and blue, but let’s just be sure to judge his success independently of his predecessor. Benvenuto Merih, and best of luck with La Dea!!!
