Throughout the summer, rumors sent Ruslan Malinovsky to other clubs and new championships, and now the “insiders” even stated that he had allegedly signed a new contract with Atalanta. What’s going on?!
Insiders do not have time to follow the development of the situation around Malinovsky: in the summer it was announced that Tottenham Hotspur, Olympique (Marseille), Nottingham Forrest and Newcastle United were interested in Ruslan, and now TUTTOmercatoWEB reported that the Ukrainian collection has extended the contract with Atalanta for another year. What is the reason for such a turn?
Ruslan himself has already responded to messages about the extension of the contract. But it seems that such news further increases the likelihood of Malinowski leaving Atalanta. Let’s explain why.
Malinovsky urged not to believe the press
The arguments about Ruslan’s imminent departure from Atalanta were mainly based on the assertion that Gianpiero Gasperini personally had a conflict with Malinovsky. This has already happened in the Bergamo club and invariably ended in favor of the head coach. Even Papu Gomez, objectively the best player in Atalanta’s recent history, was forced to leave after losing his relationship with Gasperini.
The club made it clear that it would always choose the latter between the value of one player and the integrity of the team. The very club philosophy put the team above than one person. Perhaps that is why neither Gomez’s demarche, nor Ilicic’s blues, nor the sale of Gosens, Kessy or Kulusevski forced Atalanta as a whole to change its way of doing business. And until last season did not affect the results.
The press continues to escalate around the personal relationship between Gasperini and Malinovsky: the latest message from Corriere di Bergamo unequivocally assures: “Malinovsky is unhappy in Atalanta and does not play as expected of him.” The source reports that the Italian club will consider proposals for Malinovsky in the winter and English clubs will have a second chance to sign the Ukrainian.
But at the same time, Ruslan himself, literally the next day, in an interview with the YouTube channel “Kyiv Cake” states: “In three years I have never had any conflicts with the club or Gasperini. Before the transfer window closed, I spoke with the coach, and he told me that if there is a good offer with good conditions, he will only be happy.”
What do we take out the most? Just two messages. First – no personal conflicts between the coach and the player. Second – and this is no less important than the first – Gasp will only be happy if there is a good offer for Malinovsky. Let’s remember this moment.
Around the contract Malinovsky a lot of incomprehensible
The base data of Transfermarkt and Sofascore is Malinovsky’s personal contract with Atalanta until June 30, 2023. It would seem, what are the pitfalls? But the Salary Sport resource gives a different duration of the contract: according to its data, with a salary of almost 1.4 million euros, Ruslan is bound by obligations with Atalanta for one year longer.
Yesterday, in an interview with Vladimir Kobelkov, Malinovsky confirmed this: “Much of what is written on the Internet is not true. They write that my contract with Atalanta ends next summer, that I will be a free agent in a year, but this is also not true. I have an agreement with the club until 2024.”
Atalanta failed last season and needs a reboot
And here we come to the most important thing: will Malinovsky stay in Atalanta or not. First, let’s look at the motivation of the club and the player.
What does Atalanta want? Success at a modest cost. This logic has worked in all previous seasons of Gasperini: since 2016, when Gianpiero headed the Bergamasks, they usually go through the transfer year even with a profit (14, 25, even 35 million euros plus – depending on the success and size of sales), while jumping over your head – going not just to European competition, sometimes – even to the group stage of the Champions League.
However, this trend has reversed in recent seasons. Atalanta have sold quite important players and have tried to reinvest those funds into buying new ones, but not everyone justifies the cost. As an example, bought from Sassuolo Jeremy Boga, 22 million euros – and two substitutions this season.
Atalanta has lost many leaders in recent years – and instead has acquired players who are yet to be revealed. As a result, last season the team did not get into European competition at all – this is unheard of for the level of ambition to which Gasp raised his club.
The fact that an experienced player extends the contract often means that the club is ready to sell him
This also affected the success of the players. Those who remain in Atalanta have lost money (specifically, Malinovsky, according to the same Salary Sport, has dropped from 1.5 million euros a year to 1.4 million). And, even more important than the current bonuses, they lost motivation. Hence the desire of many leaders to change the club. And, in the case of Ruslan, it seems that he had proposals that can be called specific.
“A lot of things are written on the Internet, but 80 percent are not true. It’s not true about the player’s relationship with the club and the coach, it’s also not true about the possible amount of the transfer, ”Malinovsky said in an interview with the same Kyiv Cake.
But we have already heard very important words from Ruslan – that Gasp will only be happy if a worthy offer for the sale of Malinovsky appears. From this we conclude: the club is ready to sell the 29-year-old midfielder.
The fact is that at one time Genk, having bought Ruslan from Shakhtar for 2 million euros, sold him to Atalanta for 13.6 plus bonuses. According to media reports, anyone who wants to buy Malinovsky must take into account one important feature: under the terms of Atalanta’s purchase from Genk, 10% of the next sale is due to his former club, the Belgians wrote this into the sale contract. In Bergamo, they expect to earn an amount in the region of at least 20-22 euros. As Corriere di Bergamo explains, the 15 million offer from Nottingham is clearly not enough to make a profit on the basis of Malinovsky’s transfer.
Ruslan denied the information about the specific amounts that appeared this summer, but there are concrete facts that confirm that he can change the club in the near future.
First, he is 29 years old, and selling such a player in the winter or next summer is the last chance to get good money for him. In this regard, the likely extension of the contract is a way for the club to protect their investment, now there is more chance that the player will be sold, and not leave as a free agent.
Secondly, this season has been the most unfortunate for Malinovsky in Atalanta so far. In 9 matches, he scored only two effective actions (1 + 1), and in four cases out of nine he went on as a substitute, did not play a single game in full.
Thirdly, there really is interest in it, it is a valid collection with excellent personal statistics. In 348 matches of his club career, Ruslan scored 74 goals and 67 assists, for the national team of Ukraine in 51 matches he scored seven goals and gave six assists.
If the club, against the backdrop of rumors about the conflict and the player’s desire to leave, offers him a prolongation, this indicates that Atalanta respects Malinovsky, sees an opportunity to sell him more and wants to keep, save. Actually, what Ruslan was talking about – what was said in the media and reality correlate in a rather bizarre way.
Yaroslav Smelyansky
Source: Sportarena
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
