Jesper Karlsson is high on Bologna’s wish list, reports La Gazzetta dello Sport. According to the pink sports newspaper, the Italian club wants to do business with AZ again, after Sam Beukema came over from Alkmaar for 9 million euros. Karlsson was heavily linked to Lazio earlier this summer, but the Romans eventually teamed up with Gustav Isaksen (FC Midtjylland), Matteo Cancellieri (Hellas Verona) and Diego González (Celaya). Now 25-year-old Karlsson may still be able to sign in Serie A.
Karlsson is still in Alkmaar until mid-2026, but makes no secret that he is ready for a new challenge in his career. According to Italian reports, the right leg is open to an adventure at Bologna. Karlsson had to miss the first three games of this season due to a hamstring injury, but that would Rossoblu don’t be put off. In Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, the Swedish attacker can become a teammate of Beukema, Oussama El Azzouzi, Joshua Zirkzee and Sydney van Hooijdonk, among others.
Karlsson’s name also fell at Napoli this summer. According to transfer market expert Gianluca Di Marzio, the technical winger has even had talks with the Italian champion. Transfer market estimates the current market value of Karlsson at around 18 million euros. Whether Bologna can cough up that is currently the question. The Italian club never paid more than 15 million euros for an incoming transfer. A transfer fee of more than 10 million euros was only paid for Riccardo Orsolini (15 million, Juventus, 2019/20) and Musa Barrow (14.3 million, Atalanta, 2021/22).
If AZ cooperates in Karlsson’s departure, the Alkmaarders can make quite a profit on Sweden’s eleven-time international. AZ took over Karlsson from Elfsborg in the summer of 2020 for an amount of 2.6 million euros. Since then, the winger has scored 46 goals and 33 assists in 124 official appearances. After Beukema, Tijjani Reijnders (19 million, AC Milan) and Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth, 17.9 million), Karlsson can become the fourth player to earn AZ a decent amount of money this summer.