After winning the African Player of the Year award in 2024, no one saw Ademola Lookman being in a transfer tussle with Atalanta coming. On August 3rd, 2025, Fabrizio Romano posted on his X page saying, “Ademola Lookman confirms he’s handed in a transfer request” with a follow-up tweet the next day stating, “Ademola Lookman didn’t show up to training today as he keeps insisting on the plan to leave Atalanta.”
Synopsis
All this is coming two years after Atalanta won the UEFA Europa League by defeating Xabi Alonso’s Bayern Leverkusen three goals to nil, a final where Ademola Lookman was the star man after scoring all three goals for Atalanta, thereby winning them their first European Trophy. That season could have been Lookman’s best season with Atalanta, scoring an impressive 17 goals and getting 10 assists in 45 games, combining consistent league output with standout performances in Europe.
🚨 Ademola Lookman has rejected a potential move to Arsenal. ❌
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) August 10, 2025
He wants to join Inter. 🖤💙
(Source: @corrierebergamo) pic.twitter.com/t6Pmx21Win
Lookman had a very good season stat-wise with Atalanta, not only was he one of the highest goal scorers for the club, he was averaging 3.19 shots per 90 with a shot conversion rate of 16%, 4.6 progressive passes per 90, and 3.4 progressive carries per 90, while in Europe he was averaging 3.14 shots per 90. Not only did he dazzle for Atalanta, but he also brought the same performance to the Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles, at the African Cup of Nations Tournament, scoring 3 goals and providing 1 assist en route to the final, which Nigeria eventually lost to the Ivory Coast. All these caught the eye of top teams in Europe, with one such club in Paris Saint-Germain bidding around €30 million, with Atalanta rejecting it and putting their valuation for Lookman at about €40 million. Lookman wasn’t happy with PSG's rejection of the bid, which led to him and Atalanta agreeing.
Last Season
Lookman continued in a similar vein for Atalanta last season, scoring 15 goals and providing 5 assists in 31 matches for Atalanta in Serie A whilst having 3 shots per 90 with a 24% conversion rate and 2.58 key passes per 90, which makes him one of the most deadly attackers for Atalanta last season, alongside teammate Mario Retegui. The season ended, and the transfer window opened, and it felt like Lookman might be making the step up to a bigger team with the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona being linked to him at some point. With both teams seriously in need of a winger, Lookman fits the bill before each team settled for Luiz Diaz and Marcus Rashford, respectively.
The Fallout
Then came the bid that brought the major fallout between Lookman and Atalanta, with Fabrizio Romano stating that “Inter Milan have submitted an initial €40 million for Ademola Lookman” which Inter rejected and a follow up tweet on July 29 that “Inter have once again tabled a revised bid of €40 million plus €5 million in add-ons.” After the second bid was rejected, Ademola Lookman felt hard done by and decided not only to hand in a transfer request but also to boycott training. He deleted everything related to Atalanta on Instagram as well. He then dropped a letter stating, “Despite now receiving an offer in alignment with what I believe had been discussed, sadly, the club is blocking the opportunity for reasons I do not understand,” and in the letter, he confirmed that he has handed in a transfer request.
War of Words
Atalanta's CEO has since come out to deny the allegations, with the CEO Luca Percassi saying, “The pact we made with Lookman was made one year ago when we rejected €20 20million from PSG”. We told him, “We’ll let you leave in 2025 for a super top club and not in Italy. Now, the situation with Inter is different, and as always, it's us deciding”.
With both the CEO and the player contradicting each other, there seems to be a breakdown in communication, and it remains to be seen what lies in store for Lookman. With the transfer window remaining 23 days, it remains to be seen if Lookman will get his desired move or he will eventually resume training with Atalanta.
