Atalanta midfielder Marten de Roon becomes the first foreign player to reach 250 Serie A appearances for the club

Dutch midfielder Marten de Roon has become the first foreign player to reach 250 Serie A appearances for Atalanta. After reaching the milestone on Monday night, De Roon revealed that he wants to end his career with the Italian club.

‘I’m getting old,’ The 32-year-old midfielder told DAZN after his side’s 3-0 victory over Empoli. ‘I’m proud to reach this number. Physically I feel good, fortunately I have not been injured much. I hope to continue like this and reach 300 appearances. I’d like to end my career here.’

Marten de Roon joined Atalanta from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2017, in a deal worth approximately €17m. The 40-time Netherlands national team midfielder is currently into his seventh season with Atalanta. De Roon was handed the captain’s armband on Monday night to honour his incredible milestone.

De Roon is most commonly recognised for his defensive work, but he was able to set up Gianluca Scamacca for Atalanta’s third goal against Empoli. The former Sparta Rotterdam and Heerenveen player brilliantly intercepted the ball near the edge of the Empoli area before slipping in Scamacca for his goal. In total, De Roon has featured 312 times in all competitions for Atalanta. He’s still got a while to go before breaking the record for the most appearances made for the club. Gianpaolo Bellini currently occupies the number one spot with 435 appearances for the club.