Atalanta exercised its purchase option on Croatian midfielder Mario Pasalic on Monday, after two years of assignment on the Italian side by Chelsea. Since his arrival in 2018, Pasalic contributed significantly to the successes of the Bergamo team, with third place in Serie A and qualification for the Champions League last season or the move to the quarterfinals of the 'Champions' this year after eliminating Valencia in eighths (8-4, on aggregate). In total, the 25-year-old footballer has played 75 games with the 'nerazzurra' shirt, in which he has scored 15 goals and provided 13 assists.
The 12 international times with Croatia moved to Stamford Bridge in 2014 from his country's Hajduk Split; however, he did not get to play with the 'blue' set. In the 2014-15 season, he was loaned to Elche, with whom he played 35 games. Subsequently, he spent seasons on loan at Monaco, AC Milan – with which he scored the winning penalty in a Super Cup victory over Juventus in Doha in 2016 – and Spartak Moscow. “We thank Mario for his services to the club and we wish him the best of luck in the next chapter of his career.Chelsea stressed.