Arthur Atta of Udinese Calcio celebrates after scoring their team’s second goal
during the Serie A FC INTERNAZIONALE v UDINESE Calcio at San Siro Stadium.
Arthur Atta has had an impressive season for Udinese, with good form coming after a failed offer from Fulham.
In the January transfer window, Sport Witness covered the London club’s interest in the Frenchman. Their offer never proved enough for Udinese, as sporting director Gianluca Nani went on to speak of the midfielder in glowing terms.
He compared Atta to Zinedine Zidane and Jude Bellingham, as the hype seemed like a classic Udinese tactic.
More recently, Everton emerged as a possible candidate for Atta. This came right after the ex-Metz player impressed in a Serie A game against Milan, who were beaten 3-0 by Udinese.
Mockery has now been aimed at Fulham and their January offer.
Atta has clearly grown
Messaggero Veneto take a deep dive into Atta’s situation, starting their report with a mention of Fulham.
They don’t even spare the London club’s owner, saying ‘whatever was Shahid Khan thinking’ by offering €20m.
Udinese had ‘politely declined’ this and the decision is now paying off.
This is especially true after Atta grabbed a vital brace in Udinese’s 3-3 draw against Lazio on Monday. He assisted and scored against Milan too, having now contributed to ten goals in all competitions.
Atta has also grown into a much more complete player. He has showcased glimpses of being able to operate deeper in midfield, where he has succeeded in controlling the tempo of games too.
The only dilemma that Udinese face is where to really use the midfielder. That itself has an upside, as Atta is worth much more than he was earlier.
Situation out of Fulham’s control
Atta’s growth coincides with rising interest from major Italian sides. Napoli and Inter Milan appear intrigued by the possibility of signing him and they have almost qualified for the Champions League too.
This will make Fulham’s possible summer move quite difficult. Udinese would obviously prefer a sale to England as they will earn much more through that. But the player may not be keen due to what Italian sides can offer.
That’s why the situation may be out of Fulham’s control, unless they offer a big wage to Atta.
