Serie A side Atalanta are in ‘continuous’ contact with Chelsea in an attempt to lower their asking price for midfielder Mario Pašalić.
The 25-year-old is currently on loan with the Italian club, having spent the last two seasons there after finding his chances at Stamford Bridge non-existent.
He’s been in particularly impressive form this season, establishing himself as a key man in Atalanta’s midfield with seven goals and seven assists in 32 games in all competitions.
They are keen to turn his loan into a permanent one and have a €15m option to do so but, according to Il Giorno, relayed by Bergamo e Sport, they are trying to bring that down.
The newspaper reports that the club’s managing director Luca Percassi has been in ‘continuous contact’ with Chelsea’s management to try and lower their asking price.
They hope that the ‘good relations’ between the two clubs can help to ‘lower the cost’ by a million or two, having already paid €1m for each of his loan spells thus far.
How Chelsea have responded to their attempts to lower the asking price isn’t mentioned, although it seems unlikely they will budge.
The Blues are known to be fierce negotiators when it comes to selling players, and with that €15m price tag already set, there’s no real reason for them to lower it, especially as they know how keen Atalanta are on the player.
