After a remarkable and hard-fought journey to make it to the top tier of Europe, Papu Gomez is reportedly on the verge of leaving Atalanta. The news comes from the ever-reliable, and well renowned Italian transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, who, on Twitter, shared the news to his followers.
The captain and Atalanta manager Gasperini had a fight during the half-time break of Atalanta’s Champions League fixture against Midtjylland. The Atalanta player took to his Instagram story to bring the incident to the attention of the fans of the club.
“Dear Atalanta fans, I am writing to you here because I don’t have any way of defending myself and speaking to you.”
“I just wanted to tell you that when I leave, the truth will come out about everything.”
“You know me and you know the person I am.
I love you, yours.
Capitano.”
The news of their talisman wanting to leave the club will come as difficult news to bear for fans of the Serie A club. The incident will be even more impactful considering that Atalanta have managed to draw Real Madrid in their Champions League Round of 16 fixtures, and would have had a mighty advantage with their captain leading the line.
However, the Argentinian was relegated to the bench during Atalanta’s match against Fiorentina, which they managed to win 3-0 despite their star player not making it to the starting lineup. The speculated reason for dropping Gomez is due to strained relations with Gasperini.
At 32, Gomez is past his physical peak years as an athlete but has a lot of experience to offer in exchange. Considering his recent run of form for Atalanta, the bigger clubs across Europe will definitely be monitoring his situation to see if they can prize the player away on a bargain.
His contract is set to expire in 2022, and Atalanta could end up charging a modest fee for their captain in the January transfer window.