Loan deals rarely produce the desired effects for clubs sending them out, but in Mario Pasalic’s case, it’s finally paying off.
Sent around Europe for the past five years by Chelsea, the Croatian has struggled with consistency, but he has now found a home in Bergamo, performing well for Atalanta, where he is spending his second season.
We’ve covered the situation a couple of times over the past two weeks, and the player’s agent recently told Calciomercato.it they would ‘like to continue the experience at Atalanta’.
For that to happen, the Serie A side would have to pay Chelsea the pre-agreed €15m set in the loan deal’s redemption clause, and that’s looking more and more likely by the week.
Tuttosport were already pushing it on Monday, and now Gazzetta dello Sport are all over it, explaining the fee is ‘peanuts’ compared to some other deals taking place in today’s market.
Pasalic has made it clear he wants to stay with Atalanta ‘once and for all’, and the board and staff in Bergamo ‘know this well’.
If he manages to maintain his current performances, they’ll find it hard to not ‘satisfy’ his wishes.
In fact, it’s stated his entourage’s phone ‘rings a lot’, and many clubs have asked for information without ever getting the answer they want because in Pasalic’s head, ‘there is only Bergamo’.
That’s why contacts between Atalanta and Chelsea are expected to take place ‘soon’, with Luca Percassi and Marina Granovskaia sitting down for a meeting in order to put together the deal that could, eventually, exercise the clause ‘at the end of the season’.
