Artem Dovbyk, the top goal scorer in La Liga, appeared to be on his way to Atletico Madrid, but the Ukrainian international decided to sign with Roma at the last minute.
Matias Soule was already acquired by Roma from Juventus.
Dovbyk is one of two high-profile summer additions to Roma’s attack, along with Matias Soule, a Juventus loanee who made waves with Frosinone last season. Roma is also pursuing Celtic playmaker Matt O’Riley.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Alex Lundovsky, the agent of Dovbyk, gave Ukrfootball an explanation for his client’s controversial decision to go from Atletico Madrid to Roma, which infuriated the notoriously irate Atleti supporters.
The Atletico Madrid concept wasn’t something Artem Dovbyk took seriously.
Regarding the decision, Lundovsky stated, “We didn’t see a serious project for Artem there, even though Atlético Madrid is a great club.” In terms of money, their offer is substantially less than the other offerings.
After Alvaro Morata’s victory at Euro 2024, Atletico Madrid sold the star striker to AC Milan. The reason for the transfer was Milan’s desire to replace another legendary player in European football, Olivier Giroud, with a versatile and experienced striker.
Romelu Lukaku is replaced by Artem Dovbyk.
Morata has played for Juventus in the past, giving him a wealth of Serie A experience. Over the last few seasons, he has been an excellent attack partner for Antoine Griezmann in La Liga.
Due to Romelu Lukaku’s subpar performance while on loan from Chelsea, Dovbyk will instead replace the Belgian striker at Roma. Atleti had been hoping for the large Dovbyk as a versatile scorer to partner with Griezmann.
With Roma, Artem Dovbyk has a more favorable route to playing time.
Like Atletico Madrid, Roma is a large club, but for the last 10 years, Atletico Madrid has been represented in the Champions League more frequently. The main reason was probably that Dovbyk thought Daniele de Rossi had a more aggressive style than Diego Simeone and that he had a better chance of getting playing time in Rome.
It also didn’t helped that Roma, according to his agent, provided Dovbyk with better financial terms. At 27, Dovbyk is in the peak of his career and is a late bloomer when it comes to breakout performances; this is his best chance at a sizable salary.
