Atta joins Fiorentina, it's done: over €20m to Udinese

A surprise move by Fiorentina: Arthur Atta is arriving from Udinese, as reported by Gianluca Di Marzio and echoed by Calciomercato.com with a «here we go». The deal was wrapped up overnight on the basis of a fee in excess of €20 million.

The news broke on the morning of Thursday 9 July, and it was the kind nobody saw coming: Fiorentina have closed the signing of Arthur Atta, a midfielder on his way out of Udinese. Gianluca Di Marzio was the one to call the deal done, openly describing it as a Viola «surprise» for the Friuli club's player.

Confirmation followed shortly after from Calciomercato.com, which at 9:17 ran the breaking-news line on Atta's transfer to Fiorentina before certifying, a handful of minutes later, the classic «Arthur Atta - Fiorentina, here we go». According to the same source the negotiation was settled overnight, with the agreement between the two clubs reached on the basis of a fee above €20 million.

For Udinese it is a significant capital gain and yet another piece of incoming and outgoing business in a lively summer; for Fiorentina it is another blow struck after making Radu Dragusin official, signed from Tottenham and announced by Calciomercato.com just hours earlier.

In sporting terms, then, the deal is considered done: only the usual formalities remain, from the medical to the signature on the contract and the official announcement by the two clubs. Until then, neither party has released the full details of the operation, starting with the length of the player's contract.

For Atta, who has made his name in Serie A with Udinese, it means a move to an ambitious stage like Florence. The speed with which the deal was tied up, effectively within a single night, underlines Fiorentina's resolve in closing the operation before it even became public knowledge.

TransferBeat aggregates transfer news citing the original sources. Developing story.