Atalanta are looking to Palladino to lead the way: a contract extension and a long-term plan

Atalanta are using the league break to plan for the future of their star players. Negotiations will begin in three months’ time, but the foundations for the future are being laid in the Primavera. Starting with the team’s manager, Mr Palladino, whose contract expires in 2027. Having taken over from Juric on 11 November, he has earned the Percassi family’s trust by lifting the team from 13th to 7th place in the race for Europe, reaching the Champions League round of 16 and the Coppa Italia semi-finals. The club believes in him and favours long-term projects, so they have reportedly already offered him a contract renewal.  In his latest comments, the manager seems increasingly focused on the future, on the work to be carried out in the coming months in a Bergamo that is as ambitious as he is, and which continues to dream of the finest European competition.

His contract would therefore be extended until 2029, two years longer than the previously agreed expiry date. The Percassi family want to ensure continuity for the new project but also to ‘snatch’ Palladino away from the competition. In recent days, rumours have indeed been circulating in Rome of discontent surrounding Gasperini following the latest poor results and the team’s elimination from Europe. Some in Bergamo are hoping for his return, but whilst the Giallorossi faithful are rallying behind the Grugliasco-born manager, the Bergamo club is determined to continue with Palladino. Turning the page on the past and looking only to the future, to begin a new European era. So far, Palladino has averaged 1.77 points per game since taking charge of the Nerazzurri. The highly ambitious 42-year-old coach has also ended up on Napoli’s radar: his dream, however, is to one day coach in the Premier League, in England, where he studied the language and football in the months leading up to his time in Bergamo.