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The unfashionable leaders of Serie A

Unfashionable Atalanta are currently leading Seria A.  The combined cost of impressive players for Atalanta was less than the €95million brought into the club’s treasury simply from deals with Manchester United, purchasers of Rasmus Hojlund two summers ago and Amad Diallo in 2020. Though Hojlund represents the most expensive sale the club have ever made, that pair typify a market agility that sets Atalanta apart.

Significant annual departures are a necessity because this is a mid-budget provincial club. Among the teams competing at the summit of Serie A, they are unique for having returned a profit every year of the past nine.

The striking aspect is that, mostly, they have kept climbing. A would-be superstar now leaves Atalanta thinking twice before he declares he’s upgrading to play more regularly in the Champions League. Atalanta have qualified for the competition more often in the past five years than United, or, for that matter, Tottenham Hotspur, home of Cristian Romero and Dejan Kulusevski, both formerly of Bergamo.


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