Atalanta, CEO Luca Percassi: "We will make Cristante loan deal permanent. Now European teams know who we are"

Atalanta CEO Luca Percassi discussed his team's exciting campaign in the Europa League and Cristante's future, in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. The young midfielder has done wonderful things so far and now Atalanta want to keep him: "Cristante has improved exponentially, he is a modern midfielder. He has technique, strength and he can score. We will sign him on a permanent deal from Benfica for about €5 million, he is too important for us. I'd like to see him in the national team alongside Gagliardini, they have qualities that complement each other". Thanks to Cristante and the rest of the team, Atalanta got a surprising qualification in a tough Europa League group: "We're not afraid of European teams anymore, now they respect us and know who we are. For example, Liverpool hosted us in their training facilities for the match against Everton, that's not something that they do for anyone".