Éderson joins Manchester United for €45 million plus bonuses, with the Brazilian midfielder set to be the first signing of the Michael Carrick era at Old Trafford. Marco Palestra will move to Chelsea for €55 million plus bonuses and a sell-on clause, after the wing-back was pursued at length by Inter Milan. Both deals are effectively done, with official announcements pending.
CEO Luca Percassi and sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli will now focus on incoming business — two midfielders and a wide player among the priorities, with Bosnia and Herzegovina's Kerim Alajbegović a name that has emerged following his performances at the World Cup.
The scale of Atalanta's summer business is extraordinary, but it follows a well-established pattern.
Last summer, Mateo Retegui moved to Al-Qadsiah for over €60 million. In January, Ademola Lookman joined Atlético Madrid for €35 million plus bonuses. Atlético had already signed Marcos Ruggeri the previous summer for €17 million. Cagliari exercised their option on Roberto Piccoli for €12 million.
The summer before brought the club's biggest sale at the time: Teun Koopmeiners to Juventus for almost €60 million. Caleb Okoli went to Leicester for €14 million, and permanent deals for Aleksei Miranchuk and Nicolò Cambiaghi added a further €22-23 million. Torino triggered their option on Dušan Zapata for €8 million.
In 2023/24, the record fell again. Rasmus Højlund went to Manchester United for approximately €80 million. Jérémie Boga and Merih Demiral departed to Nice and Al-Ahli respectively for €17 million each. Sales of Maehle, Pessina, Malinovskyi, Latte Lath and Lammers brought in a further €40 million.
The cycle began in 2022/23 with Cristian Romero's permanent move to Tottenham Hotspur for over €50 million. Robin Gosens went to Inter Milan for €28 million. Andrea Colpani and Mattia Bettella moved to Monza for over €15 million combined, and Remo Freuler joined Nottingham Forest for €8 million.
There is a further subplot. Brighton sent a delegation to Milan for talks this week and identified Honest Ahanor as a target. The 18-year-old defender, who came through the Genoa academy and joined Atalanta last summer, made 35 appearances in his debut season — 1,902 minutes across all competitions — and scored once.
Atalanta have no intention of selling. The club view him as one of their core assets and the operation is described as extremely difficult from the outset.