Having chased after Jordan James all January, Atalanta are getting a bit frustrated by Birmingham City and their reluctance to let the midfielder leave.
Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere di Bergamo both have articles on the Wales international and his potential move to Italy on Tuesday, and both say the same thing: negotiations are ‘at a standstill’.
Starting with the former of the two, it’s explained that Birmingham are unwilling to ‘drop the requested’ €10m for the player, which is double what the Italians have put forward, having ‘reached €5m’.
As for Corriere di Bergamo, they believe that Atalanta are ready to give up, with the talks ‘destined to reopen in June’.
It’s recalled that Birmingham City had ‘accepted’ the offer from Atalanta of €4.5m for James, but the sacking of Wayne Rooney ‘changed the cards on the table’.
Why exactly isn’t said, but that’s when the Championship side decided to double their requests, with the local newspaper claiming they now stand at €9m.
The €1m discrepancy between the two reports tends to be normal, and what is important is the general message, which is that Birmingham are asking for too much, and Atalanta aren’t going to meet those demands this month.
