According to Kicker, 18-year-old Bosnian international Alajbegovic has officially submitted his wish to Bayer Leverkusen to transfer to Serie A, and Atalanta is currently pushing hard for the deal. However, Bayer Leverkusen does not intend to let him go hastily, and negotiations between the two sides are far from reaching an agreement.

Alajbegovic sees Italy as the next step in his career, with his core demands being stable playing time and a possession-based style of play. In his view, he faces a serious surplus of personnel in his ideal position at Bayer Leverkusen, especially after the club signed Lyon's left winger Afonso Moreira for 29 million euros, making him even less willing to play only a backup role. In contrast, top Premier League teams would also only consider him as a reserve, which further solidified his idea of moving to Serie A.

Although Corriere dello Sport once claimed that Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen were close to reaching an agreement, Kicker believes this is almost impossible. The reason lies in the discrepancy in transfer fees; Bayer Leverkusen's asking price is 30 million euros fixed fee plus bonuses and a percentage of future transfers, a figure considered very high in Serie A. However, since Atalanta is not the only club interested in Alajbegovic, Bayer Leverkusen has no reason to lower its asking price. Napoli, and possibly AC Milan, are also vying for Alajbegovic.

This deal is particularly tricky for Bayer Leverkusen. Many fans see Alajbegovic as the next Wirtz, and selling him for less than 30 million euros would be seen by the outside world not as an economic success, but as a wrong sporting signal. Especially with the disappointing performance of direct competitor Ben Seghir, who was acquired for 32 million euros, in his first season, the risk of letting Alajbegovic go would be further amplified. Keeping him, on the other hand, would help Bayer Leverkusen continue its image of developing offensive superstars after Havertz and Wirtz.

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