A Spanish report claims Atletico Madrid are pushing to land Ederson before Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, enter the race properly.
Marca, 1 April 2026
Clubs are reportedly moving early to try to keep Atalanta‘s Ederson out of the Premier League, with Atletico Madrid already in talks over a deal designed to head off interest from England, including Arsenal.
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According to Marca, Atletico sporting director Mateu Alemany recently travelled to Italy for talks with Atalanta president Antonio Percassi as the Spanish club stepped up efforts to sign the Brazilian midfielder for the 2026-27 season.
The report describes Ederson as Atletico’s number one target in midfield and makes clear that the timing of the move is being driven in part by concern over Premier League competition for the 26-year-old.
That is where Arsenal enter the picture. Marca says Atletico’s urgency is tied directly to the financial power of English clubs, with the report stating that Alemany has moved to accelerate negotiations so that sides such as Arsenal do not disrupt a deal they are trying to push through before the market develops further.
But the figures underline why Atalanta are in no rush to make life easy for any suitor.
Photo by Simone Arveda/Getty Images
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Atletico reportedly do not want to pay more than €40m, structured as €35m plus €5m in variables, while Atalanta are said to value the player at at least €50m.
With Ederson under contract until 2027, the Italian club still hold a degree of control, but the coming window is also presented as the perfect opportunity to maximise their return on a player they signed from Salernitana for €22.9m in 2022.
His salary is said to fall in the €4m to €5m range, and Marca presents him as the chosen solution for a midfield area Atletico want to strengthen.
Marca notes that Atletico have been tracking Ederson since at least March 2024, when the player was already building a reputation as one of the most complete midfielders in Europe.
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At that stage, Atalanta’s €60m valuation was described as ‘prohibitive’. Now, with Alemany leading negotiations and the asking price said to be lower, Atletico appear to believe there is a window to strike, provided they can do so before any Premier League side gets involved in earnest.
At the end of 2024, it was also reported that Arsenal had ‘walked away’ from any deal due to the same €60m price tag, so there was interest from the Gunners.
However, it didn’t go beyond Arsenal asking ‘how much?’ and then saying ‘ok, thanks’, before they looked elsewhere.
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