A Serie A outfit are persistent in their quest to sign this Birmingham City star.
Birmingham City entered the January transfer window and almost immediately sacked Wayne Rooney, following a run of just two wins in 15 games.
The club’s managerial hunt then has taken precedent over the past few days and after a number of names were linked, it appears that Blues are closing in on Tony Mowbray.
But there’s still movement on the transfer front with Serie A outfit Atalanta continuing to pursue a deal for Welsh international Jordan James, who Blues value at €10million (£8.6million).
Rudy Galetti says Atalanta ‘keeping’ pressure on Birmingham City
Italian football journalist Rudy Galetti has revealed the latest on Atalanta’s pursuit of James.
He says that the Italian outfit have already tabled a bid of €5million (£4.3million), including bonuses, but that Birmingham City want double that amount.
Galetti also adds that talks regarding James to Atalanta are ongoing and that the 19-year-old is keen on a move to Italy.
Tony Mowbray dealt potential blow before he’s even arrived
James is Birmingham City’s joint-second highest scorer in the Championship this season with five goals to his name in 24 league outings.
After falling out of favour under John Eustace last season, the exciting midfielder worked his way back into the XI under Rooney and was arguably his best player.
He’s started to deliver his form for Wales for Birmingham City and it’s no surprise to see this kind of transfer interest emerging so soon into this January window.
But for Mowbray or whoever the next manager is, losing James would be a huge blow.
Blues don’t have to much quality in the centre of midfield with the likes of Krystian Bielik having been poor in recent weeks.
So losing James would leave the next Blues boss light on quality and numbers in the middle and he would certainly need replacing.
Given the fact that James is out of contract next year, Birmingham City don’t have to sell; but if they can’t get a new deal sorted then they might be forced to sell in the summer.
It’s a tricky one for the club to weigh up, especially given their managerial situation and league position. But Atalanta know the price tag and so the ball is very much in their court right now.