Berat Djimsiti Rumors and Taking What the Market Gives

Is It Time For a Departure for One of Atalanta's Most Dependable Centerbacks?

Editors Note: I had mistakenly referred to the rumors as coming from Saudi clubs, in reality it is Al-Rayyan from Qatar who has demonstrated interest in Djimsiti. Updates have been made.

The Percassis almost never butcher a sale. I’m sure I’m forgetting (and someone will definitely correct me!) but I cannot remember the last time that Atalanta failed to sell a player and capitalize on his maximum value. Viktor Kovalenko springs to mind, but he had little value to sell as it was, and he’s more of a case of confusing signing rather than failure to sell at the proper time. Maybe Luis Muriel… but did he really have any tradable value in Europe the last two seasons?

The point remains, Atalanta is at its peak when it comes to fielding phone calls from hungry clubs all across Europe (and now the States). My gut tells me that Joakim Maehle, Merih Demiral, Rasmus Hojlund, Dejan Kulusevski, Jeremie Boga, and even Remo Freuler were probably at peak value when sold and Atalanta could never have gotten the same price if they had waited until the winter signing period or the next summer.

Tthe Percassis (and Sartori and now D’Amico) are writing the book on asset management in football. And now the saga of Berat Djimsiti is just the next chapter in the tale.

It is slightly painful to write this. Djimsiti has been one of the most loyal players during the Gasperini era. He rarely gets hurt, can play all three centerback positions, and isn’t afraid to burst forward like a well disciplined Gasperini defender. He had a renaissance season last year, where at the start of the season he had a chance to be pushed out of the starting rotation. Instead he took advantage of injuries to the luck-stricken Rafael Toloi, logging over 4,000 minutes across competitions - the most in a single season of his career.

But when the Qataris come calling, you have to listen. The potential for a 15M euro sale cannot be ignored, especially for a player now on the wrong side of 30. As reliable as Djimsiti has become, what are the chances that Atalanta gets the chance to pull off this same deal again next year? Bird in the hand or two in the bush.

But in this case it is really just one bird in the bush. There’s no 20M euro sales waiting next year if Djimsiti puts in another stellar season. Will there ever be a better chance to make a profit like this again?

You can argue that Atalanta doesn’t need the cash, given all of their Europa League winnings and earnings from other deals. Yet the minute Atalanta starts making sloppy exceptions and justifications as to why they should do something against their ethos; that’s when the chinks in the armor form. One exception for Djimsiti leads to new exceptions down the road, and before you realize it there’s no longer a plan in place. You start doing deals willy-nilly as you see fit (like so many other clubs in Italy without a clear plan).

I really want to see Djimsiti stay in black and blue, but if the Qatari deal can is true at 15M, does Atalanta really have a choice in the matter? We still have good depth at centerback, as long as Toloi has shows semblance of health, and 15M in pure profit can be used in a lot of interesting ways.

Its a painful pill to swallow, a confusing pill that wasn’t really a thing before Middle East money began to make a wave across football. Djimsiti deserves the chance to make lifechanging money for his family for a few years. But for Atalanta, the brass continue to read the market, and find the value that is given to them. We won’t forget the memories of the player, but we cannot let it influence future decisions - especially ones with 8 figure price tags. Let’s keep monitoring this one, and wish the best for all parties involved. As always, Forza Dea!