BERGAMO, ITALY – APRIL 06: Ademola Lookman of Atalanta warms up prior to the Serie A match between Atalanta and SS Lazio at Gewiss Stadium on April 06, 2025 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Monday’s front pages described the relationship between Atalanta and Ademola Lookman as ‘completely ruptured’ following the 27-year-old’s decision to hand in a transfer request and to release a damning statement on his treatment by the club on social media, but how and why has the situation got to this stage and what happens next for the African Player of the Year?
What happened with Lookman and Atalanta?
Lookman has been subject of transfer interest from 2025 Champions League finalists Inter, who have recently seen a bid of €45m including bonuses turned down by Atalanta. La Dea, meanwhile, have stood firm with their valuation of €50m.
After seeing Inter’s most recent bid turned down, Lookman took to Instagram to release a statement sharing his version of events and explaining why he has decided to submit a formal transfer request.
The former Fulham, Leicester, Everton and RB Leipzig forward believes that “it is the right time to move on and experience a new adventure,” but has accused Atalanta of “blocking the opportunity for reasons I do not understand.”
He went on to suggest that there have been “many months of broken promises,” and that he has received “poor treatment both as a human being and as a professional footballer.”
Why is Lookman so frustrated at Atalanta?
Despite impressing in the early stages of his career with Charlton Athletic, before going on to score against Manchester City on his Premier League debut with Everton, it took Lookman a while to get settled at senior level.
His early 20s were spent in-and-out of the first-team picture with Everton and later RB Leipzig, and they had to settle for a series of loan moves to Fulham and then Leicester City.
That is before Atalanta took a punt for a fee of around €15m in 2022. He has since gone on to provide 23 goal involvements from 33 appearances in his first season, 27 from 45 in 2023-24, which included an historic hat-trick in the Europa League final, and then another 27 goal involvements in the season just gone.
Having helped Atalanta to their first ever European silverware, and providing a reliable source of goals and creativity over the last few years, it is no wonder that the Nigeria international has attracted interest over the past two summers.
And, at the age of 27, this may be the final opportunity for Lookman to secure a ‘big’ contract at one of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Last summer, it was Paris Saint-Germain who had stepped forwards with a proposal. Atalanta were left furious, however, as PSG reportedly approached the player first, rather than the club.
Despite the fact that Lookman had agreed personal terms with the Parisians, a move never materialised, which led to a delicate relationship between the player, club and coach in the first part of the 2024-25 campaign.
Now, one year down the line, it is Inter who are making attempts to sign Lookman from Atalanta.
This summer, La Dea are seeking a fee of €50m. Inter’s most recent bid came to €42m with €3m in bonuses, which was turned down. This is what led to Lookman’s outburst on social media over the weekend.
In his recent Instagram post, Lookman claimed that there was an agreement that Atalanta would allow him to move on if an appropriate offer came in. He clearly feels that the €45m bid from Inter was reasonable, and is now bemused as to why the offer was rejected.
It remains to be seen what the next steps are for the club or for the player.
