Birmingham City have ‘put the brakes on’ midfielder Jordan James leaving this month, likely growing tired of Atalanta’s back and forth over the player.
La Gazzetta dello Sport cover the player today and the ‘tug-of-war’ between Birmingham and Atalanta for his signature that shows no signs of ending any time soon.
James has been heavily linked with a move to the Italian side over the last few weeks, with initial reports indicating that a deal could be wrapped up quickly then followed by the usual slow, dithering approach from Italian teams.
Gazzetta pick up on that today and explain that while Atalanta have received approval from James, Atalanta consider him as a chance not an obligation.
Birmingham have insisted they want €10m for the Welshman while Atalanta are only offering €5m, therefore there is a big difference between the two sides that is yet to be bridged.
The newspaper believe that Atalanta will take ‘decisive steps’ to secure him and perhaps early next week but will only do so on their terms and not under conditions imposed by Birmingham.
That has seemingly annoyed the Blues, who have ‘put the brakes on the negotiation’ for the time being. A deal can still be done but for now, the Championship side have had enough of the dithering and bargaining from their Italian counterparts.
In Italy, though, it is Birmingham who are the problem and their €10m price tag is considered ‘unacceptable’ at this moment in time.
In simple terms it seems Birmingham have put their stall out; Atalanta don’t like how it looks and have rejected it so now there’s a stalemate until someone makes a move once again.
