Starting the season on the bench, Federico Gatti quickly convinced Max Allegri that he was worth using, and has rarely left the Juventus starting line-up since the beginning of September.
However, everything could have been very different had Nottingham Forest managed to get their way over the summer as they tried to sign the 25-year-old centre-back.
This is according to Tuttosport, who have a lengthy article on the player, where they reveal the City Ground side made a ‘maxi-offer’ for Gatti over the summer.
They recall that the ‘ambitious’ Nottingham Forest had set their sights on the defender, and were ‘convinced of succeeding’ in their quest to bring him to England.
However, both Cristiano Giuntoli and Giovanni Manna ‘placed a wall’ around the player, regardless of the fact the Premier League side were ‘ready to spend €25m’ on him.
The timing of Nottingham Forest’s offer was the problem, because Gatti had already convinced Max Allegri during pre-season, stopping any chances of him leaving Turin during the summer transfer window.
This all happened in August, which suggests they made their move before spending €12m on Murillo late in the month, as well as another €12.85m on Andrew Omobamidele from Norwich City.
Forest seemingly got two players for the price of one, although whether they are better than Gatti will be up for debate, considering how essential the Italian has been to his team’s successes this year.
