Gianluca Scamacca is set to join Atalanta from West Ham United, pushing Inter Milan to pursue Folarin Balogun instead.
Fabrizio Romano confirms that Gianluca Scamacca is now set to sign for Atalanta for a €25m fee, with €5m in add-ons. West Ham have also included a 10% sell-on clause in the deal, and a medical is booked for later on Saturday.
With that transfer effectively a done deal, Inter Milan have once again missed out on one of their summer centre-forward targets.
According to a number of sources including Romano himself, the Serie A club will now turn back to Arsenal and Folarin Balogun.
Ryan Taylor reports that Inter are expected to push for Balogun, though they’re still not prepared to pay the kind of money Arsenal want. All the same, talks are expected between the two clubs.
Alfredo Pedulla reports that Balogun remains Inter’s first-choice option, and they now want to push for his signature. They’re hoping to close a deal for €35m or less.
Gianluca Di Marzio reports that Inter need to decide whether to return to Balogun or push for Beto from Udinese, but Balogun is indeed their first choice.
According to Di Marzio, Inter are hoping to offer as little as €25m plus €5m in bonuses, though they’re willing to include a high sell-on clause.
The whole situation is a bit of a mess for Inter, as they’d previously halted talks for Balogun so they could focus on Scamacca, only to miss out on the West Ham man.
CBS Sports reported that Arsenal have a £50m valuation on Balogun, much higher than Inter reportedly plan to bid, and they know he has admirers in the Premier League, including Brighton, Crystal Palace, and West Ham United.
With Scamacca joining Atalanta, perhaps West Ham could end up as a rival bidder to Inter.
For the time being, Balogun is out injured, training separately from the main Arsenal group.
Balogun scored 22 goals on loan with Stade de Reims last season, making 39 appearances in all competitions.