A twist when the negotiation for the right winger seemed closed. The strength of the Premier League and the numbers of a 120 million euro deal.
Inter were fooled by the skin of their teeth, when they thought they had closed the deal and reached a goal Marco Palestra fitting all the pieces of the puzzle together. The right fielder goes to the Chelsea who was inserted at the last minute and who presented a double offer that was impossible for both Atalanta and the player to refuse.
End of story on the day Marotta And Help they were convinced they would get the signatures. A sensational but not entirely unexpected development and which, above all, confirms once again how Italian football cannot compete with the Premier League and the big European teams. Bitter consideration for Inter fans and for Serie A in general, but today it is like this and the road back will be long and uphill.
Chelsea took Palestra by offering Atalanta a sum exceeding 60 million euros, bonuses included, with also a percentage on future resale. Inter had reached the fateful but no longer sufficient threshold of 50 plus some bonuses still to be ironed out. And then the salary offered to the 21-year-old defender who exploded in this championship at Cagliari: 5-6 million for Chelsea and just over half for Inter.
Palestra had promised himself to the Nerazzurri and had oriented the negotiation towards Milan for weeks, but faced with the force of Chelsea’s interference there was no further match. A huge disappointment for Marotta and Ausilio who did not lack the will to allocate a huge sum to the operation, but who perhaps missed the timing, allowing Chelsea to organize themselves and relaunch.
