Serie A executives are leaning heavily on the Spanish club's phantom presence to ensure the Premier League side completely loses its nerve at the negotiating table.
BERGAMO, Italy — Following initial inquiries into the availability of defensive midfielder Éderson, Atalanta front office executives have reportedly contacted Atlético Madrid to request the Spanish club maintain a highly visible, superficial interest in the player to ensure Manchester United completely abandons its valuation strategy.
The Serie A club, well versed in the Premier League side's historical tendency to bid against itself, is relying on Atlético's lingering presence in the transfer race to trigger a cascading sense of dread within the United hierarchy. Internal communications indicate Atalanta is hoping a singular, low-level bid from Madrid will be enough to convince United's new INEOS-led sporting department that they must double the asking price immediately.
We strictly require Diego Simeone's camp to submit one credible €35 million offer on official letterhead so the Manchester United recruitment team gets spooked and wires us €85 million by Tuesday.
Atlético Madrid has reportedly agreed to the arrangement, recognizing that their own measured €35 million valuation of the 24-year-old Brazilian is entirely incompatible with modern transfer mechanics. In exchange for submitting the decoy bid and occasionally leaking interest to the Spanish press, Atlético will reportedly receive a polite thank-you note once United inevitably pays a world-record fee to secure Éderson's rights to sit on the bench behind an aging Casemiro.
Representatives for Manchester United declined to comment on the ongoing negotiations, though club sources indicated the scouting department is currently working around the clock to draft a £300,000-a-week contract that will become a universally recognized financial albatross by mid-November.
The summer transfer window remains open until August 30, giving United's executives ample time to drag out the preliminary discussions before inevitably capitulating to all of Atalanta's demands in the final forty-eight hours.