The Expert: Papu Gomez is Atalanta's gem in their stellar season

Shortly before kick-off on Sunday, Atalanta welcomed veteran talent scout Mino Favini onto the pitch to wish him a Happy Birthday. Favini turned 81 last week. A place in the calcio hall of fame surely awaits. Atalanta are known as the Nursery of Italy because of him. Favini has an extraordinary eye for potential. Just ask Pietro Vierchowod, Roberto Donadoni, Christian Vieri, Pippo Inzaghi, Riccardo Montolivo and Giampaolo Pazzini. Favini saw their potential before anybody else did and you can’t say it is luck. This has been a constant throughout his career.  

More recently, Favini discovered the likes of Manolo Gabbiadini, Giacomo Bonaventura, Alberto Grassi, Daniele Baselli and Davide Zappacosta. Their sales made Atalanta €39.5m in transfer fees, which might not sound like a lot in today’s market, not least because it pales in comparison with the prices commanded by the current crop.  

Upon returning from spells on loan in the second division, Andrea Conti, Mattia Caldara, Roberto Gagliardini and Frank Kessie all broke into the first team. Gagliardini moved to Inter last month. Caldara will join Juventus in 2018 and Kessie looks likely either to go to the Premier League or to Roma in the summer. Atalanta are expected to bank close to €80m for the trio, “a life-changing” amount of money, says president Antonio Percassi. Put into greater perspective, those deals alone match what they made as whole last year.  

Understandably, the kids have been responsible for a lot of the hype and excitement around Atalanta this season, particularly over the course of the club record equalling six-game winning streak in the autumn, which included the stunning upsets of Napoli, Inter and Roma. But the star of the show is a player approaching his 30s, Papu Gomez.   

Thanks to Papu, Favini’s birthday wasn’t the only reason to celebrate at the Atleti Azzurri d’Italia on Sunday. The Argentine scored both goals in a 2-0 win against Cagliari and his second strike was, without doubt, the goal of the weekend in Serie A. You might say it was a stroke of genius.  

As captain this season, Gomez has taken particular pleasure in organising a different armband for every game. For the most part, the designs have played on 90s nostalgia and his passion for video games. The one Papu wore against Milan before Christmas went viral. It depicted the Master League XI from Pro Evolution Soccer on PlayStation, Ximelez, Espimas, Castolo and all to the initiated.  

Sunday’s showed Albert Einstein and a lightbulb with the quote: “Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” Lord knows what Gomez’s teammate Andrea Petagna made of it. Petagna is one of the kids Atalanta have bought rather than raised themselves. The others are Leonardo Spinazzola, on loan from Juventus, and Bryan Cristante who, like Petagna, came through the ranks at Milan. Gomez and Petagna have hit it off in a big way this season. A bromance has blossomed.  

Last week Gomez had an iPhone cover made of the poster from Ted 2. Petagna had Photoshopped it so that he was Mark Wahlberg and his teammate the sweary bear. Another one had Gomez as Bart Simpson stood at the blackboard in detention, writing out the lines: “I must make Petagna more assists. I must make Petagna more assists.” It only seems fair after all having made more key passes (53) than any other player in Serie A this season. Gomez has yet to set his thunder buddy up this term. Petagna, on the other hand, has been behind three of his teammate’s goals.  

Papu is Atalanta’s top scorer at the moment. Lined up, on paper, as Petagna’s strike partner in Atalanta’s 3-4-1-2 formation, the 28-year-old tends to occupy a position on the left-flank where he likes to combine with Spinazzola and Remo Freuler before cutting inside onto his right foot. Already up to eight for the campaign, he has matched the personal best he recorded in his final year at Catania.  

Gomez would perhaps have had a higher profile than he does now had he not moved to Metalist Kharkiv for €7m on the back of that season. Diego Simeone, his old coach at Racing and Catania, wanted him at Atletico. “Catania refused their offer” and Papu moved to Ukraine instead. Metalist lured him with the promise of Champions League football and a huge pay-rise. They tripled his wages.  

But the experience was a negative one. UEFA banned Metalist from the Champions League for links to a match-fixing scandal and the club struggled to get the money together to pay the players once conflict broke out in the country. “I was scared,” Gomez reveals. “I saw guys with machine guns in the streets. I couldn’t go on living like that. Fortunately Atalanta came in for me.”  

Operation 'bring back Papu' cost the Bergamaschi just €5m. It was a steal. Bigger clubs in Italy must be cursing themselves at such a missed opportunity. Gomez is linked almost every summer with Milan, Roma and Inter. It’s no secret that Vincenzo Montella is a big admirer. Memories of their year together at Catania have not been quick to fade. Italy have also explored whether Gomez is eligible for a call-up to the national team and why wouldn’t they? He has been involved in nine goals in his last 14 games.  

A dual citizen now, the issue seems to be that Papu did not have an Italian passport when he played alongside Sergio Aguero, Angel di Maria, and Ever Banega, in Argentina’s Under-20 World Cup winning team a decade ago. “I hope the lawyers find a solution,” he said. “For me, playing for Italy would be a dream. Argentina never gave me a chance. I’m not thinking about playing for them anymore.”  

Although Argentina aren’t exactly lacking in wide players and forwards, the failure to acknowledge Gomez is every bit as baffling as the publicly unexplained exile of Mauro Icardi. Argentina’s manager Edgardo Bauza attended the Derby d’Italia at the weekend only to see a Colombian get the only goal. Maybe he should have gone to Bergamo instead.