Backing from FIFA
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This article appeared on Transfermarkt in its first version on February 18th. at 10:23 p.m. and was updated with a reaction from BVB.
Despite attractive offers from the likes of Manchester City, Atlético Madrid and FC Bayern, Samuele Inácio decided to move to Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2024 after almost ten years in the Atalanta youth team. Things are said to have gone wrong for the club from Bergamo at the time and left a deep wound. BVB reacts to this with surprise, but also calmness.
“For me it is very serious that Borussia was never willing to sit down with us and clarify a matter that we brought to FIFA,” Atalanta’s CEO Luca Percassi told “Sky Italia” during the first leg of the Champions League intermediate round against BVB (0-2).
The obligatory dining for club bosses had previously been canceled by the Italians. “It’s a great pity that clubs don’t want to clarify this matter. We canceled lunch, but I still met with the Borussia managing director and explained the situation to him again. Let’s see if they want to approach the matter like a big club,” Percassi added.
The Atalanta boss accused BVB of a lack of respect: “Atalanta doesn’t deserve to experience something like that. (…) From a moral point of view, I leave it up to everyone to judge this matter for themselves. We are attached to all the young people we train. He has grown up in our youth department since he was seven years old. From a legal point of view, we are convinced that we are right.” It is not known exactly what misconduct he is accusing the Dortmund team of. “There is a period in which you can act, but they acted much earlier. Above all, between clubs you have to respect each other. How can Borussia Dortmund take a talent away from Atalanta?”
BVB is surprised by the sudden criticism of the Inácio transfer
Before the second leg on Wednesday (6:45 p.m.) in Bergamo, BVB sports director Lars Ricken reacted with surprise to the sudden criticism. He lacks understanding for it. “The dinner didn’t take place last week, and it probably won’t take place on Wednesday either. Because of Samuele Inácio, who has been playing with us for a year and a half. Now the issue is being opened up. This was a transfer of a minor. There are clear regulations. Everything has to be documented. We did that very extensively. FIFA confirmed to us that everything was correct. And Samuele has been playing with us for a year and a half now. That’s why this discussion is very surprising at this point in time. We haven’t experienced that either, that a dinner for the club leaders did not take place,” the “Ruhr Nachrichten” quoted Ricken from a media panel.
Inácio, to whom Transfermarkt dedicated an article in the last talent calendar, collected, among other things, the award as top scorer at the U17 European Championship, and he also netted at the U17 World Cup. The son of the Brazilian attacker Piá was born in Bergamo, his mother’s hometown. The youngster, who is not a traditional striker, started playing football at the age of five and quickly ended up in the Atalanta academy, where his father and his uncle Joelson once made the leap to the professionals. The BVB scouts were particularly impressed by his game intelligence, his two-footedness and his good sense of space. However, Inácio still had some catching up to do in terms of physicality and intensity.
The Italian is high in the rankings of those responsible for Dortmund, even though he has not yet played for the professionals. His achievements were rewarded for the first time with participation in the Club World Cup. The offensive man was recently registered for the Champions League by the Black and Yellows – he was on the bench against his training club Atalanta last week. Coach Niko Kovac was recently full of praise: “If he stays healthy – and we all assume that he will – he will have a really great career. Because even at the age of 17, I see in him a lot of what a very, very good footballer will have in the future.”
