Atalanta has refused to budge on their €50million demand for Super Eagles of Nigeria forward, Ademola Lookman as they have rejected Inter Milan’s new offer for the Nigerian.
Softfootball understands that Lookman is desperate to move away from the Bergamo club this summer and has already informed them that he only wants to join the UEFA Champions League finalist.
Inter Milan were confident about their second bid after the first was rejected by Atalanta. Speaking via his official X handle, Fabrizio Romano revealed that the Nerazzurri’s were counting on their good relationship with La Dea to help complete the deal but were met with a surprise rejection.
He said:
“Atalanta have just informed Inter about their decision to reject €42m plus €3m add-ons bid for Ademola Lookman.”
Interestingly, Lookman who suffered a calf injury two weeks ago, has been left in Bergamo as the rest of the Atalanta squad travel to face RB Leipzig in a pre-season friendly.
Napoli and Atletico Madrid were the other clubs that wanted the Nigerian with the Azzurri offering €5m per season, surpassing the Nerazzurri’s proposal, which is €4.5m per season.
But Lookman was unwilling to sign for either Napoli or Atletico Madrid as he reiterated that he only wants to join Inter this summer.
Lookman has already shaken hands with Inter over a €4.5m-a-year deal until 2030, with his wages rising to €5m during his stay at San Siro.
Napoli have now moved on from the Nigerian by signing Noa Lang and Lorenzo Lucca to help their title defence next season.
Lookman is a hero for Atalanta fans after he helped the club win the Europa League for the first time in their history by scoring a hat-trick in the final against Bayer Levekusen.
Lookman signed for Atalanta in 2022 for a fee of €10.8m, scoring 52 goals in 118 appearances for the club.
