Serie A top scorer, Mateo Retegui, will be leaving Atalanta to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Qadsiah for a staggering fee of €70m.
This follows an agreement between both clubs after the Italian striker had reached an agreement with the Saudi giant.
According to reports from SportItalia, a deal between the two clubs was struck at around 17.30.
Although there are some contradictions regarding the reported fee, Fabrizio Romano and Matteo Moretto claim that the deal is worth up to €65m.
This is a good business for Atalanta that also made around €75m plus up to €10m in bonuses in the summer of 2023 for the sale of Rasmus Hojlund to Manchester United.
Retegui will become Atalanta’s second-most-expensive sale of all time if the deal goes through.
According to Football Italia, La Dea earlier in the week had rejected an offer of €53m for the Argentine-born Italy international earlier in the week before the improved offer was accepted.
There is already a personal agreement in place between Retegui and Al-Qadsiah for a whopping €20m-per-season contract.
Retegui joined Atalanta last summer, in a deal that cost La Dea €28m to bring him over from Genoa. He finished the 2024-25 season as the Capocannoniere with 25 goals from 36 league appearances.
The 26-year-old beat the 19-goal Moise Kean, who had also been subject to interest from Al-Qadsiah, to the golden boot. Viola are even planning to offer him a new deal to chase away suitors from making a move for him this summer.
Retegui will be leaving Serie A after just two seasons. He scored seven goals from 29 league appearances for Genoa following his move from Argentina in the summer of 2023, his breakout season with Atalanta.
As things stand, the Italian international joining Al-Qadsiah is almost a done deal.
After accepting a €20m-a-year contract offer from the Saudi club, he informed Atalanta that he wishes to leave this summer.
Talks between the two clubs then continued, and an agreement was reached on Wednesday. The deal could include some bonuses which matched Atalanta’s asking price to secure the services of the latest Serie A top scorer.
Retegui has scored 32 goals in 65 Serie A matches with Genoa and Atalanta.
He has also scored six goals in 20 appearances with the Italy national team.
