Leonardo Spinazzola confirms he wants to leave Atalanta, return to Juventus

There have been quite a few twists and turns in the on-again, off-again trials and tribulations of Leonardo Spinazzola’s reported desire to see his loan deal at Atalanta end a year early and subsequently return to Juventus. I say “reported” because, up until now, we hadn’t really heard from Spinazzola himself regarding his future at Atalanta.

Well, as of Monday, we can say all of that has changed. Spinazzola has taken to social media to address the situation that has seen him suddenly frozen out of the Atalanta squad, one that will make its Europa League debut come the other side of the first international break of the season.

Here is, courtesy of Football Italia, the English version of Spinazzola’s lengthy Instagram post regarding his present and future:

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry if I offended anyone because anyone that knows me knows who I am and and what my values are. Returning to Juventus at 24 would be the achievement of a dream. A sweaty dream, fought, tried for and finally realised after years of loans and sacrifice.

“Bergamo, Atalanta and their fantastic fans, the Percassi family, Mr. Gasperini and every single player and member of staff, you’ve all been crucial for me so that this dream could finally happen, and I’ll always thank them.

“Bergamo welcomed me, matured me, raised me, supported me and helped me.

“I am and I’ll always be grateful to Atalanta, whether I remain or don’t remain a Nerazzurri player, because I’m a professional and because I’m happy to wear these colours, with which we did great things last season, and whatever happens I’ll continue to do so.

“But don’t ask me to stop dreaming because there are trains that maybe pass once in a lifetime, and I’ll do my best to get on it. I’ll always have Atalanta in my heart.”

Those are some pretty fascinating words from a 24-year-old who is coming off the best season of his young career.

The deal to bring Spinazzola back to Turin was never going to be as simple as it may have seemed. Atalanta reportedly wanted to secure a replacement for him before any potential move to Juventus happened. And the same goes for Juventus having to see Kwadwo Asamoah depart before the transfer window closes to open up a spot on the roster.

How much these words from Spinazzola have on the deal getting down in the final days of the transfer window remains to be seen. But when you see a player come out and say that their desire is to come to Juventus and basically pens a goodbye post at the same time, there has to be something in the works.