Barring last-minute second thoughts, Ilicic's season with the Atalanta shirt should be over. The footballer would not have physical but psychological problems.
Ilicic's season with the Atalanta shirt would have ended on the best. In fact, the player allegedly accused psychological problems during the lockdown and would never recover.
For the Slovenian footballer it would have been a trauma to pass the coronavirus quarantine in a city like Bergamo between ambulance sirens and coffins transported by military trucks.
To tackle this delicate issue is Repubblica in an article by Franco Vanni. We report the part of the article where Repubblica talks about the alleged psychological problems of the Atalanta player.
“The 32-year-old Slovenian has returned home to his countryside. His family are looking after him, who really know him, since before football brought money and fame.
"He is a strong boy but also fragile, like the trunks of ancient trees", say of him the companions with whom he shared the locker room in Florence, between 2013 and 2017.
The goals, the victories and the confidence of the Nerazzurri club were not enough for Zingonia to prevent something from breaking.
Josip Ilicic suffered the months of lockdown in Bergamo, with the daily count of the dead, the images of the coffins transported by military trucks, the fear of doing even the simplest things and the metamorphosis of human contact: from a source of comfort to danger of infection.
Only doctors can tell if his is depression, because it is an illness and not a simple state of mind.
Atalanta, who owe him a lot, did everything they could. His comrades, the club and Gasperini himself have pushed their limits in a mission that is too big for them too.
The coach has always given him confidence, up to fielding him against Juve despite the dull games he had played with Lazio, Udinese, Cagliari and Sampdoria. It wasn't enough. The spark did not rekindle the fire ”(source Repubblica) .
Source: Blitz Quotidiano