Atalanta president Antonio Percassi has issued a hands of warning to clubs interested in recruiting Bryan Cristante this month.
The 22 year old is currently on loan from Benfica, but Portuguese newspaper Record report that the Italian international is being tracked by Chelsea and Manchester United, as well as Italian teams Juventus, Inter Milan, Lazio and Napoli.
Cristante joined Atalanta on an 18 month loan deal last January, and has excelled this season, but Percassi denies he could leave the Serie A side before the end of the current campaign. He told the Corriere di Bergamo (quotes via Record):
“The Cristante is one of the stars of our season and will stay with us until the end [of the season].”
The Italian has scored nine goals in 24 games from central midfield this season, and was rewarded with his first senior cap for Italy when he came on for the last 15 minutes against Macedonia in the 1-1 draw back in October.
Cristante started out life in AC Milan’s youth academy but moved to Benfica in 2014. Since then, he has had a number of loan moves to Italy with the player also having spells at Palermo and Pescara.
