Atalanta finished up it’s winter business further fortifying its attack with the signing of Parma’s Valentin Mihăilă on a loan deal with an option to buy. Should Atalanta go through an permanently purchase the Romanian, La Dea will look to spend about 10M euros for the player’s services. Amid rumors that Josip Ilicic cannot be a reliable rotation option due to his off the field difficulties, it makes sense that Gian Piero Gasperini would want to add additional depth in the attack. Now with Jeremie Boga and Mihăilă, La Dea has restocked its attacking arsenal with the new signings joining forces with Ruslan Malinovskyi, Mario Pasalic, Matteo Pessina, and Aleksei Miranchuk.
The young Romanian is certainly the most green of Atalanta’s attacking options. Having only been in Italy a year and a few months, the Romanian has already had a whirlwind of a time in the country – experiencing relegation with Parma, undergoing surgery during the offseason, to now landing at a club fighting for Champion’s League football. It’s quite the journey for Mihăilă who still is a relatively unknown quantity in Italy. So to learn a bit more about Atalanta’s new commodity, I leaned on the excellent Filip B from Romania Football on Twitter for insight on Mihăilă, and what we can expect from him this spring. I highly recommend giving them a follow for all insights into the Romanian football world!
Atalanta Passione: Atalanta has been going heavy on attack this winter, what are Mihăilă’s strengths that will help him fit into a system that loves to attack?
Romanian Football: Speed is his main weapon. He does better with spaces, no question about that. He can be a real threat in a team that wants to pick out players behind defense.
AP: Mihăilă has been in Italy for less than two years first signing with Parma at the end of 2020, were there big expectations in Romanian football circles when he first arrived in Italy? Has he been meeting expectations so far?
RF: I think he has been meeting expectations so far. I think many of us were surprised Parma would pay €8.5 million for him, and that was added pressure on him too… His first months at Parma also raised the expectations even more due to his good start (the goal against Lazio in particular comes to mind), but then the injuries and Serie B affected them a bit, although relegation was certainly not on him.
AP: Looking at his injury, it is fair to say that Mihăilă has been unlucky staying healthy recently. Besides staying healthy, what else does he need to do to improve his overall game?
RF: This experience with a better coach should help him now. But I’d say he should try to be more regular, more consistent finishing. And most of all, his overall game should improve if he can stay fit by developing his body more and managing diet properly with the staff at Atalanta.
AP: A quick Transfermarkt.com check shows that Romania, as a nation, has the 11th most foreigners in Serie A with seven. How is Calcio perceived in Romania? Is there a lot interest in tracking players like Razvan Marin and Vlad Chiriches? Favorite foreign teams in Romania (any league, not just Serie A)?
RF: I think we all consider Serie A the top league where our players have the best chance nowadays. So there’s definitely quite a bit of interest in Calcio. Favourite teams in Romania are the bigger ones I guess, but the ones that have important Romanian players still get a lot of following. It’s also historically been a good place for our players in general, and there will be a lot of eyes on Atalanta now.
AP: Going from Romanian youth leagues, to Serie B, to competing for UCL spots with Atalanta is quite a large step for the youngster. Knowing his age and relative inexperience, would you recommend Gasperini slowly working him into the rotation, or does he have the mentality to go out and contribute immediately?
RF: Given he scored on his debut for the NT, against a pretty solid team (North Macedonia), it’s evident (IMO) that he can thrive under pressure. Perhaps Atalanta is a bit more pressure than that, and the level is higher, but he can contribute.
He also already played in Serie A last season, and contributed well in the minutes he got, especially considering the problems in the team. As he seems to withstand the pressure well, he can be useful from the start, but he will still need to adapt to the team and demands there. I expect he’ll do fine if he can stay fit… He did better than expected (even defensively, though not great) in his first months of Serie A.
Thanks Again to Filip!
A big shout out again to Romanian Football for insights into a player that Atalanta has needed for awhile. Directness has not been part of the offense for some time, so both Mihăilă and Boga can hopefully start causing problems on the left with blistering pace! As always, Forza Dea!!!
