BERGAMO – Eight seasons as a key figure for the same team are more than enough to become a legend. And to remain so even after deciding to move to Saudi Arabia to end his career. This can be said of Berat Djimsiti, the Albanian defender who captained Atalanta to the Europa League title in Dublin, making 334 appearances and scoring 11 times. The bond between Bergamo and Atalanta is reinforced by the long letter Djimsiti posted on his Instagram profile. Not just a farewell, but an act of love and gratitude for his sporting and personal experience. And a sense of belonging that remains strong.
Here is the text of Berat Djimsiti's letter:
«I am a person who firmly believes that things in our life they happen for a reason. Beautiful things, as well as those that, at the time they happen, perhaps we don't yet understand. I believe life gives us opportunities. Sometimes we recognize them immediately, other times only many years later. And I believe it presents us with challenges through which we are called to grow. If I look back ten years today, I see the boy who arrived in Bergamo. I came from another country, with another story, but with a very simple dream: to prove my worth, in football and in life. I've never been a man of many words. I've always preferred to work, fight, and let my actions speak for me. Perhaps not everyone knows that ten years ago it was not at all foreseen that Bergamo would become my home. Sometimes, however, llife decides differently than we had imagined. And ten years ago he decided that I would stay.
Today I know that was it one of the most important opportunities of my life. An opportunity to prove who I was, to work, to test myself, to grow. And I tried to earn it every single day. Not with grand words, but in the only way I knew how: with hard work, discipline, perseverance, and the will to never give up. Step by step, I was no longer just a player who had arrived in Bergamo. I became part of Atalanta, part of this city, part of this history. Today I could write entire pages about football. About the matches, about Europe, about the victories, the defeats, of nights we will never forget and goals that ten years ago we perhaps would have only dreamed of.
We all know what we've achieved together. But today I realize I want to talk about something that, for me, is even more important: people. The people who make Bergamo what it is. The people who make Atalanta what it is.. The people who made this journey possible. Because when we look at what we've become, we must never forget where we started.
You shouldn't just look at the final image. You should remember the journey: the days when no one knew where this road would take us, the work no one saw, the defeats, the doubts, the moments when you simply had to get back up and continue. Nothing was handed to us. We earned it with hard work, discipline, sacrifice, courage, heart, and above all, together.
Perhaps this is precisely why Atalanta and Bergamo are so deeply connected. Because this team embodies the character of its city. The Bergamo native doesn't need big speeches. He works.. He knows that respect must be earned, that a given word carries weight, and that in life you fall, but you get back up. He's proud, but his pride doesn't need to make noise. It's the pride of someone who knows where he comes from, protects his family, defends his values, and fights for what he loves. And that's exactly what I found in Atalanta, too. A team that perhaps didn't make more noise than the others, but that never stopped working, believing, and getting back up.
And then there are you. Our fans. In ten years we've experienced incredible moments, but also difficult ones. And I believe people don't really know each other when everything is going well. They know each other when things get difficult, when you lose, when doubts arise, when you need to find the strength to start over. And you have remained. You suffered with us, you fought with us, You pushed us when we were flying and stayed there even when we fell. You never asked us to be perfect. You asked us to fight, to respect this jersey, these colors, this city, and to walk off the pitch knowing we'd given our all. And perhaps that's why our bond has been so strong. Because we recognized ourselves in the same values.
In the end, results become numbers. Games become memories. Trophies remain in showcases. But the people we meet along the way and what they leave behind within us, that remains. And Bergamo left so much inside me. I came here as a young footballer. Here I became a man. Here I became a father. Here my family grew up. My children grew up here and made some of their earliest memories here.. And I hope they will always carry with them something of what this land has taught us: concreteness, respect, hard work, loyalty, pride, and that big heart that often hides behind few words.
Perhaps, for me, the feeling of home began in a very simple place: Giuliana's trattoria. One of those first places where a foreign country slowly began to feel familiar, where strangers became friendly faces. Then came other encounters, other people, other memories, until Bergamo was no longer just the city where I played football. It has become our city.
Atalanta was no longer just the team I played for. It has become our team. And so many people we've met along this journey have become part of our lives. That's why today, saying thank you isn't enough. Thanks to my teammates, with whom I fought, suffered, celebrated and experienced moments that I will always carry with me. Thanks to all the coaches, to the staff and to every person who works every day for this company, often away from the spotlight. Thanks to the Percassi family, for the trust, for the opportunity and for everything you have built for this club. Thanks to our fans. And thank you to Bergamo and its people, for welcoming me and my family and making us feel part of something.
Finally, thank you to my family for sharing every step of this journey with me, through the good times and the difficult ones. Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for us. I know that change is a part of life, and that sometimes you have to find the courage to close one door in order to open another. But there are some doors that, in reality, never close completely.
Because you can leave a team. You can leave a city. But we carry a home within us. Ten years ago, perhaps my story should have been different. Life decided that I would stay. And today, ten years later, I know he couldn't have made a better decision.. That's why I don't want to say goodbye. Some bonds don't end with the last game. Some stories don't end when a chapter closes. There are places that become part of who we are. Bergamo, for me and my family, will always be one of those places.
It was an honor to wear this jersey. It was an honor to fight for these colors, it was an honor to be part of this history. Wherever life takes me, a part of me will always remain here.. Thank you for everything, Bergamo. Thank you for everything, Atalanta. Forever in my heart.".
