JUST IN: Club Unearths Fresh Details in Pursuit of £8.5m Deal for Birmingham City Star
Birmingham City are no strangers to interest in their key players and midfielder James has been the latest to draw admiring glances this month. Serie A side Atalanta have been in pursuit, with their bids well-documented over the window.
Little time remains for the Italian outfit to strike a deal though. The window slams shut at 11pm tomorrow night, and it seems there are still differences in the two clubs’ valuation of Welsh prospect James.
According to a new report from Gazetta dello Sport, Birmingham City are standing firm with a €10m (around £8.5m) valuation of James. Atalanta are €3m shy of that as they are willing to go as high as €7m.
It is added that to strike a deal, Atalanta will either need to review their own firm stance over his value, or they’ll need 19-year-old James to apply some pressure over a move.
James is a player with a big future ahead of him and Birmingham City will be more than aware of this. His increasingly important role for club and country has seen his stock rise and should he continue on this path, it could be that he’s worth even more in the summer.
Then, not only will the Blues potentially land a larger fee, but they’ll have ample time to find a replacement too. That isn’t the case in the winter transfer window, especially when little over a day remains for deals to be done.
Atalanta are well within their right to hold firm too though. They’ll have their own valuation of James and they’ll be keen to get him on as cheap a deal as possible. They likely know that his stock will only rise further too, so securing his signature now before more clubs enter the chase will be ideal.
As of now though, it seems the Championship club and Serie A side are locked in a stand-off over their James valuations.