With the transfer window officially over now, Atalanta can look back and comfortably assess that they’ve had a strong window. Shrewd signings addressing depth, youth development, and the sale of a lauded prospect were all part of a very busy mini-offseason for the Atalanta front office. Of course grades are all relative, but in my book Atalanta definitely graded out above average, and look like good value for their expenditures and sales.
Overall, B+: Atalanta addressed depth at nearly every position, found replacements for the departure of Castagne, and sold another potential wonderkid for the nearly the entire wage bill for the club this year. The only thing that prevents me from giving them an A or A- is missing out on signing another defensive midfielder to spell de Roon and Freuler. Pasalic is a question mark, and I haven’t seen enough of Pessina to know if he can handle the double pivot or he needs to play further up the pitch.
The Departures
Diallo Traore, A: Anytime you can sell a player for nearly 40M euros, it’s good business. It’s great business when it’s for an 18 year old kid, with less than 100 minutes of Serie A game time, and you get to make Man U look desperate. Getting nearly 80M for him and Kulusevski sets up Atalanta to have even more fiscal freedom, and allows them to make the keen growth splashes we saw this market.
Timothy Castagne, B+: I hate to see Castagne go. His versatility was key to backing up Gosens and Hateboer on both flanks, but getting nearly 25M pounds for a supersub is hard to shake your head at that. He’s also been excellent so far for Leicester, and is doing his upmost to prove that Atalantini can go elsewhere and still be valuable.
The Additions
Cristiano Piccini, C: Coming over from depleted Valencia, he looked to be the backup to Hateboer. However, suffering from injuries frequently, it looks like the injury bug has hit him again, and its unknown whether he’ll even feature in Gasps’s plans this year. Fortunately, Piccini is only at the squad on loan, and can be shipped back to Valencia if he can’t shake the injury bug. I hope he does, never want to see a player injured, but its best to think of the season without him at least in the early going…. With that being said:
Fabio Depaoli, B-: Atalanta wasted no time finding Hateboer’s next backup in Sampdoria loanee, Depaoli. I know very little of Depaoli, but could be another injury reclamation project after missing significant time last year with an ankle injury. The jury’s still out if he’ll be a serviceable backup, so a safe B- grade for the time being.
Johan Mojica, B: The final wingback addition to help offset the Castagne loss, Mojica has already been given matchtime in all 3 games so far, demonstrating Gasperini’s trust in him. Perhaps the fastest guy on the squad, it will be interesting to see if he can be impactful with his Colombian compatriots like he was in the 2018 World Cup.
Cristian Romero, B+: Finding a centerback for Atalanta is incredibly difficult, but it’s quite possible we’ve found a future staple in Romero. Quick, aggressive, and the good kind of reckless; he’s a perfect Atalanta centerback and looks poised to fit right into the starting squad or at least the rotation (especially with Caldara injured for 3+ months).
Sam Lammers, B+: I’m trying to curb my enthusiasm for Lammers after the glorious and technical goal he scored against Cagliari, but you can’t deny the skill and ability the kid has. If he can continue to rinse defenders the way he did last week, highlight compilations will be coming left and right. Put some strength on this kid, and he’ll be a dynamite center forward, that can easily become Zapata’s future heir apparent.
Aleksey Miranchuk, A: Last but not least, I still cannot wait for the debut of the squad’s Eastern Bloc representative. A Josip Ilicic-lite, I’m convinced he was brought on to be the next Ilicic and become the lefty trequartista we’ve all grown used to. He’s already demonstrated his ability against top competition, giving Juventus fits last Champion’s League, and we can only hope he continues this tradition in Serie A. Injuries have prevented his debut up to this point, but I have a feeling he’ll comfortably be able to work his way into the starting XI, and become a major La Dea force over the next few years.
Overall, an incredibly exciting transfer window with lots of new toys to play with. Depth was a concern last year, and the brass addressed it and then some. As long as the wingbacks can stay healthy, and Pessina demonstrates some ability in a double pivot, it will be an incredibly efficient, savvy, and shrewd transfer window. I can’t wait to watch the squad develop and gel together this season, and as always Forza La Dea!
