Marco Palestra’s move from Atalanta to Chelsea tops Serie A’s summer sales list at €60m, including bonuses. It is the headline departure in a window where the biggest exits did not stop with one deal. Marco Palestra also became the fourth-most expensive Italian footballer of all time, with only Mateo Retegui and Sandro Tonali above him, and Tonali appearing twice on that list.
The Palestra fee at the top
Football Italia described the deal as €60m, and the same report also framed it as €55m plus bonuses taking it to €60m. However it is broken down, the size of the move is the point. Palestra is now behind only two other names in the all-time Italian transfer list, and that is a very small group for any sale to enter.
The wider list shows how quickly Serie A clubs cashed in on premium assets. Rafael Leão left AC Milan for Galatasaray on a guaranteed €38m after Milan initially asked for €60m. That discount stands out as much as the fee itself, because it shows how far the market moved from the original asking price.
Bologna's place in the top five
Jonathan Rowe also left Bologna on the final day of the summer transfer window to join Atalanta on loan with an obligation to buy in a package worth €40m. Santiago Castro then went to AS Roma for €35m plus bonuses. Those two deals put Bologna into the top five twice, which is a sharp marker of how central the club was to the market's biggest sales.
Tarik Muharemović is another reminder of how spread out the selling was, with his move from Sassuolo to Leeds United also bringing a 50% sell-on clause that benefits Juventus. Serie A's summer was not short on volume, but the high end was where the story sat. Palestra led it, Bologna filled it out, and Milan's Leão deal added the surprise.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
