Exclusive – Premier League clubs including Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur are keeping an eye on Atalanta midfielder Marten de Roon, in a bid to bring the Dutchman back to English Serie A football.
De Roon previously spent 2016/17 in the Premier League with Middlesbrough, joining northeastern club Atalanta. But he quickly returned to his former club just 11 months later after Boro’s relegation to the league.
The 29-year-old has since continued to build a reputation as a Champions League-caliber midfielder through Atalanta’s development into one of the top Italian and European teams.
De Roon has caught the attention of Premier League clubs since Atalanta’s trip last season to the Champions League semi-finals, with Manchester City considering doing so before this season if Ilkay Gundogan was gone – the German is stayed in place at the end.
90 mins has learned that while City are still interested in De Roon, they won’t be considering an approach until the summer. However, others have joined the race and may bid earlier.
This is particularly the case when it comes to Tottenham, with manager Jose Mourinho keen to invest in a new midfielder who would give his side an extra boost in the title race in the second half of the campaign.
De Roon obviously has the advantage of having previous Premier League experience, while Mourinho has actually publicly praised the player in the past.
“This kid De Roon is phenomenal, his pace of work is phenomenal,” Mourinho remarked in 2017 after a game his Manchester United side had just played against Middlesbrough.
90 mins has been informed by a source that De Roon himself is keen to return to England, despite interest from Serie A leaders AC Milan as he believes he has not completed his Premier League work. He only had one season with Boro and couldn’t show his best form.
Atalanta, meanwhile, accepts that any offer on the Premier League clubs’ table will be impossible for them to match financially, even though they give De Roon a very high rating and would be disappointed to see him leave Bergamo for the second time.
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