Former Atalanta captain Papu Gomez recently secured a move to Sevilla in Spain for a total fee worth €8.5 million, seen by many as one of the best deals of the winter transfer window. The Argentinian had a fallout with former manager Gian Piero Gasperini, which led to him being frozen out of the squad and eventually, transfer listed.
Looking back on the transfer on the Here We Go podcast, Fabrizio Romano and Francesco Porzio mentioned that Gomez was indeed offered to Arsenal. However, the Gunners wanted someone younger to take over the creative playmaker role in the heart of the park.
The North London club have since signed Martin Odegaard on loan from Real Madrid till the end of the season, with no option to buy the player. They were previously looking at Norwich City star Emi Buendia for a permanent transfer, and will probably make a move for him in the summer, since Odegaard will be on his way back to Real Madrid alongside Dani Ceballos.
Sevilla’s clash with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League hence, promises to be a very interesting affair because the Yellow and Black club aren’t going in a very positive direction themselves, despite having one of the best squads in the league.
Atalanta, on the other hand, go up against the biggest club in the world, Real Madrid, in the Champions League and with Los Blancos being on a poor run of form themselves, spectators would be foolish to completely rule out La Dea considering their accomplishment in the previous edition of the European tournament.
It is only unfortunate that one of their most loyal players in Papu Gomez is not at the club to lead the team into battle against their most daunting challenge yet.
