Atalanta co-owner Stephen Pagliuca will look to form a partnership between the Serie A side and Chelsea if his bid to buy the Blues is successful.
Pagliuca owns a majority stake in Atalanta and would be required to sell some shares should he take over at Stamford Bridge as UEFA rules state that two clubs playing in the same competition - the Champions League or Europa League - cannot be controlled by the same entity.
The American is yet to publicly clarify how he would manage such a situation, but Ben Jacobs notes that Pagliuca's plan is actually to create a partnership between the two sides.
Again, the technical details of such a proposal have not been made public just yet. Pagliuca has vowed not to sell his Atalanta shares but has also hinted that he could do just that, leaving supporters of both clubs in the dark.
What's clear is that Atalanta do not foresee any problems should Pagliuca succeed in his bid to buy Chelsea. Club chief executive Luca Percassi recently told Tuttosport that he is hoping the deal will go through and a partnership between the two clubs can be born.
“We hope that Pagliuca will be able to buy Chelsea, we would have enormous advantages," Percassi said.
Atalanta have built a reputation as somewhat of a talent factory in recent years, buying players for cheap prices and selling them on for hefty profits, although they have attempted to spend big and failed with a bid to buy Tammy Abraham before he left Chelsea for Roma last summer.
It's suggested that Atalanta are hoping to team up with Chelsea, which would help them avoid missing out on players like Abraham in the future.
The two teams are already on good terms anyway. Davide Zappacosta joined Atalanta from Chelsea last summer, 12 months after Mario Pasalic's two-year loan was made permanent, and the Serie A side even have former Blue Jeremie Boga on their books as well.
Source : 90min