Why Atalanta find themselves in chaos ahead of Serie A opener | OneFootball

Atalanta find themselves in a chaotic situation ahead of their Serie A opener against Lecce as several first-team players are deemed unavailable for this fixture due to numerous reasons.

Gian Piero Gasperini might have set the target of replicating last season’s highs for Atalanta this season too but before progressing on that road, he must now solve an emerging problem in his squad. Fans and pundits alike were surprised to see La Dea’s official squad list for the match against Lecce as several first-choice players were left out.

A report from La Gazzetta dello Sport highlights the issue as Ademola Lookman, Gianluca Scamacca, El Bilal Toure, Teun Koopmeiners and Sead Kolasinac are the notable absentees for the Bergamo-based side’s season opener. While Scamacca and Kolasinac are out with injuries, Lookman has asked to be transferred immediately as he wants to make the most of the recent interest from Paris Saint-Germain.

Bilal Toure and Koopmeiners were absent from the team’s final training session before the match and were therefore left out of the squad. Both players were excluded from the Super Cup game too as they are expected to be at the centre of negotiations for potential transfers. Koopmeiners is likely to join Juventus and Toure has been linked with Bournemouth.

Only time will tell if Atalanta will be able to reach the same heights as last season but for now, they have a huge job to resolve the crisis in their dressing room.

Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN