It’s time for the Portuguese press to finally cover Bryan Cristante’s situation at Atalanta. Not with huge news, but at least he gets a mention in the local newspapers this time.
The midfielder was loaned from Benfica to the Italian side in January 2017, and since then has been completely forgotten by the Lisbon newspapers.
But now that he’s been linked to the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool, it’s time for him to be mentioned in the Portuguese media again, even though Benfica are unlikely to make a penny with a future transfer.
As reported by Correio da Manhã this Wednesday, the situation is simple: Atalanta have a €4m buying option over Cristante at the end of the season. They are expected to activate it and then demand €30m from any other club interested in the 23-year-old.
The list of pretenders would include Juventus, Inter Milan, Arsenal and Liverpool, who could all go for him in the next summer.
Now we’ve seen that this rumour started in Italy a few days ago, and even though Correio da Manhã doesn’t credit any other sources, it’s very possible that they’re just taking claims from somewhere else.
In any case, it’s very reasonable that Atalanta would pay €4m for the midfielder to make more money afterwards. The question is whether the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool are really that keen on paying €30m for him.
If so, a €26m profit doesn’t sound too bad.
