Atalanta’s Giuntoli: “We’re sorry De Roon left, but he wanted Roma.” | OneFootball

Cristiano Giuntoli, Atalanta’s sporting director, spoke at a press conference to take stock of the situation at the end of the transfer window.

“I want to recap our transfer market. First of all, I want to thank the Percassi and Pagliuca families for their trust, especially Luca for his help over the past few months. We started with Sarri, convinced he’s the right person to embark on a new chapter: we’re happy to have him with us. We started with an Italian playmaker like Gaetano, then Kristensen after Djimsiti’s departure, after which we had Elmas, a very versatile and consistent player for Maurizio Sarri’s 4-3-3.”

“Then de Roon asked us to join Roma, and we pounced on Kessié: for us, he’s a key player for this project, and our great relationship with Luca was crucial in our acquisition of this player.”

“De Roon? When a player wants to leave, you have to listen to him. We’re sorry, but we have to turn the page and move on. Kessié is also a player with personality who can help us with this new Atalanta.”