Alejandro Gomez has officially joined Sevilla on a permanent deal, leaving Atalanta after seven stellar years than ended in a sour note. The two teams ultimately met in the middle between offer and request as he transferred for a €7.5M bid plus bonuses, while the Orobici were originally looking for €10M, Gazzetta dello Sport reports. Papu has inked a deal until 2024 and will get a pay raise compared to his previous contract.
The 32-year-old attacker joined the Goddess from Metalist in 2014 and, alongside coach Gian Piero Gasperini, he was instrumental in their surge from a mid-table team to a Champions League contender. He has notched 59 goals and 71 assists in 252 during his time in Bergamo, being one of the most dazzling and dominant playmakers in Serie A in some stretches.
Despite the previous success, he has been frozen out from the squad in late December due to a rift with the coach that begun at half time of the Champions League tilt versus Midtylland, where he reportedly refused to move to a different position, and then extended to the management in the meetings after the falling-out.
In the meantime, the Nerazzurri have found new balance on the pitch thanks to the contribution of Matteo Pessina as tactical attacking midfielder and the return to form of Josip Ilicic, who has been on fire in recent matches. They are not expected to replace Gomez as they also have Ruslan Malinovskyi and Aleksey Miranchuk for those roles in the roster and Mario Pasalic is set to return from injury soon.