Atalanta, El Bilal Touré official: however it goes, it’s already a record
The new arrival has already rewritten his club’s almanacs.
El Bilal Touré to Atalanta is official. The Malian striker has been bought outright from Almeria, regardless of the possible transfer of Rasmus Hojlund (in pole for the Dane are PSG and, especially Manchester United). In any case, before he even takes the field, the latest addition to the Nerazzurri has already set a new all-time record for the Orobici.
In fact, Atalanta paid Touré 28 million euros plus bonuses, a figure that sets a new record for the most expensive purchase Dea has ever afforded. It surpassed the previous record, which dates back to the time of the purchase from Sassuolo of Jeremie Boga (22 million). Moreover, the French-Oivorian has just said goodbye to the Nerazzurri, having been sold to Nice this week for 18 million euros. Also lower is the sum of 26 million, paid to Sampdoria and spent on the onerous loan (2018) and subsequent redemption (2020) of Duvan Zapata.
“Atalanta B.C.,” the Bergamo-based club writes in an official note, “announces that it has definitively acquired from Union Deportivo Almería the right to the sports performance of the player El Bilal Touré. Born Oct. 3, 2001, in the Ivory Coast but of Malian nationality, he is a striker who grew up in Ivoire Académie and Afrique Football Élite. He landed in European soccer in 2020 after coming to prominence in the African National Under-20 Cup, which he won as a star player with Mali in 2019 when he was still 17 years old, playing every game as a starter and scoring the decisive penalty in the semifinal against Nigeria. On that occasion he was also included in the top 11 of the event by CAF.”
“He was then bought by Stade Reims in January 2020,” Atalanta continues in its account of Touré’s career, “and after two games (with two goals) in the B team he was promoted to the first team. On his Ligue 1 debut, he signed the goal that gave the ‘la’ to the 4-1 victory at the Angers ground. He also started the following season by immediately scoring on his debut: in the 2-2 draw with Monaco he scored a goal and an assist. After two and a half seasons in France, with 9 goals and 5 assists to his credit in 69 appearances, he moved to Almeria in the summer of 2022, scoring three goals in the first five league games played. He closes his first experience in La Liga with 7 goals and 2 assists in 21 appearances, signing important goals such as the one in the 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid and, last February, the one in the 1-0 win over future Spanish champions Barcelona.”
“He soon became a staple of the Mali national team as well, with whom – since his debut in October 2020 – he has made 15 appearances, scoring five goals, including three (with two assists) in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers. Atalanta B.C. extends a warm welcome to El Bilal Touré, wishing him the best of satisfactions – personal and team – in the Nerazzurri jersey,” the orobico club concludes in its statement.
