Chelsea took Mario Pašalić from Croatian side Hajduk Split in 2014 and he has been out on loan since then.
In 2018, the Blues allowed the 25-year-old to join Atalanta on loan, which was renewed last summer, and the Serie A club retain an option to make his transfer permanent.
A week ago, we carried a report from TuttoMercatoWeb, who explained the midfielder has already agreed to continue with Gian Piero Gasperini’s side.
The redemption option is set at €15m and the Italian club were trying to lower the price tag after already receiving a discount on the loan fee.
Having managed seven goals and seven assists in all competitions, Atalanta have decided to retain the Croatia international and part of claims made by TMW has been confirmed by the club’s technical director, Giovanni Sartori during an interview with Sky Italia.
“We always work to avoid having players at end of their contracts in the squad,” said Sartori.
“Pašalić and [Adrien] Tameze [on loan from OGC Nice] are the only two loans: we have an agreement with them.
“We are trying to redeem Pašalić from Chelsea, while for Tameze we are talking to Nizza to extend the loan and possibly exercise the right of redemption at the end of the season.”
With Sartori saying discussions are still ongoing with Frank Lampard’s side for Pašalić when all they really need to do is trigger the €15m clause, this suggests some negotiation is taking place behind the scenes, perhaps, as TMW stated, in order to try and get a better deal.
