Chelsea have successfully overcome Inter Milan in the race to sign Atalanta’s Marco Palestra.
The Serie A winners made concrete advances to sign the right-back, who spent the last season on loan at Cagliari.
Inter Milan had a deal in place with the 21-year-old before Chelsea beat them by offering better terms.
Earlier on Wednesday, Sport Witness covered claims from Italy that he has accepted the Blues offer of €5m per year plus bonuses. Inter Milan offered him a five-year deal with an annual salary of €2.5m.
The Premier League side have also made advances by reaching a basic agreement with La Dea for a deal worth €60m.
Since then, claims from the UK and Italy state all parties have agreed on terms for him to join Chelsea. The Italy international now has to carry out medical tests and other transfer formalities.
Inter Milan are clearly unhappy to have lost the fullback to the west London club and many in Italy will feel the same.
Decision to join Chelsea criticised
Corriere dello Sport editor Ivan Zazzaroni believes Marco Palestra has picked Chelsea because of money. FcInterNews have relayed his comments.
Zazzaroni insists he can’t criticise the Italian for prioritising the financial aspect.
“Marco Palestra is going to Chelsea for the money, and I don’t feel like criticising him for that,” he said.
“I simply pointed out that for a young player, that club is risky, almost a curse. Someone disputed my statement, so I listed in a haphazard order the talents bought for a fortune by Boehly and somehow ‘disgraced’.”
Zazzaroni then went on to name 27 players that Chelsea signed under the current owners, who have failed to deliver. He remains hopeful Palestra doesn’t end up on this list.
“I wish Marco the best, let’s be clear. We need him in the national team. Young players need help to develop,” Zazzaroni explained.
Why Palestra could struggle at Chelsea
The Atalanta player prefers to operate as a right-back/wing-back. Recce James, Malo Gusto and Josh Acheampong now occupy that position at Chelsea.
Even if Gusto and Acheampong were to leave this summer, Marco Palestra could still be behind James.
Palestra may find it difficult to enjoy regular game time, also because the Blues aren’t in Europe next season.