Giacomo Raspadori has joined Atalanta from Atletico Madrid in a deal completed on 15 January 2026, with the Italian forward putting pen to paper on a two-and-a-half-year contract in Bergamo. The fee is reported in the Italian press at around €22 million, which allows Atletico to recoup close to what they paid for him only months earlier. Atalanta moved quickly to get the deal done, beating Roma to his signature after the Rome club had been pushing for a loan with an option to buy.
The move brings Raspadori back to Serie A less than a year after he left it. Atalanta's new head coach, Raffaele Palladino, made the 26-year-old a priority target after taking over from the sacked Ivan Juric, saying the club "wanted Giacomo Raspadori at all costs". Palladino was after a versatile forward who can play across the front line and drop into the number 10 role, adding attacking cover and a proven goal threat as Atalanta looked to rebuild momentum in the second half of the season. Raspadori's résumé fits that brief: 45 caps and 11 goals for Italy, including a Euro 2020 winner's medal, plus two Serie A titles and Champions League experience from his time at Napoli.
For Atletico Madrid, the sale ends a short and largely unproductive spell. Raspadori arrived in Madrid in August 2025 for a fee of around €22 million on a five-year contract, signed as one of seven attacking additions to Diego Simeone's squad after Enzo Millot's move to the club fell through. He never established himself as a regular starter, making 15 appearances in the first half of the 2025-26 season and contributing two goals and three assists. With Simeone's attacking options crowded and Raspadori short on minutes, both club and player judged a fresh start was the better option.
His output at Atletico was modest compared with his numbers at Napoli, where he had been a title winner and a regular contributor in the final third. The move to Atalanta gives him a route back to regular football in a league and a club he already knows well — he made his Serie A debut against Atalanta back in 2019, in the match that sealed the Bergamo club's first-ever Champions League qualification.
At Atalanta, Raspadori is expected to be used as flexible cover and rotation option across the front three and in the number 10 position, rather than an automatic starter from day one. Palladino has said the club will look to build up his minutes carefully rather than throw him straight into a busy run of fixtures. The move also continues a pattern of business between the two clubs: Atalanta and Atletico have exchanged several players over the past eighteen months, including Juan Musso, Matteo Ruggeri and, weeks after Raspadori's move, Ademola Lookman, who joined Atletico from Atalanta in a separate deal.
Wearing the number 18 shirt, Raspadori now has the chance to rebuild his career in familiar surroundings, with Atalanta hoping his experience and versatility add depth to their attack for the rest of the season.