Middlesbrough are close to selling Marten de Roon back to Atalanta just 12 months after shelling out £12m for the midfielder, reports Sky Sport Italia, via Football Italia.
De Roon was billed as Serie A’s version of N’Golo Kante upon his arrival on Riverside last summer but the Netherlands international struggled to make any serious impact in the Premier League.
Middlesbrough were relegated back to the Championship at the first attempt last season and Atalanta are now on the verge of re-signing the Dutch midfielder for nearly £1m less than what they sold him for.
The 26-year-old has been linked with a shock move to Manchester United in the last few days but De Roon is expected to finalise a return back to Serie A.
De Roon started in 32 Premier League matches for Middlesbrough and was surprisingly more effective in the final third, scoring four league goals.
In the 2015/16 campaign, De Roon made at least 53 more tackles and interceptions combined than any other player In Serie A (253).
For more stats on Marten de Roon, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
