Lookman’s demand to join PSG unsettles Atalanta

Ademola Lookman is not in the Atalanta squad for Monday’s Serie A season opener against Lecce amid reports he requested a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.

It would be another devastating blow to La Dea, who are already missing Teun Koopmeiners over a similar situation with Juventus talks.

The rumour emerged, yesterday, that PSG had contacted Lookman’s entourage and asked about his availability.

Although no proposal has been made to the club, it still seemingly proved enough to turn the Nigeria international’s head and he reportedly asked not to be called up for today’s game against Lecce.

His name did not appear in the official squad list travelling to Lecce for the Serie A match, according to a Football Italia report.

Lookman turns 27 in October, and scored a hat-trick in the Europa League Final against Bayer Leverkusen, last season.

Atalanta purchased Lookman from RB Leipzig in 2022 for €9.35m plus bonuses.

Born and raised in London, he scored a total of 32 goals with 18 assists in 79 competitive appearances for Atalanta, most recently the UEFA Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday.

This leaves the Bergamo Boys with only two strikers available, Mateo Retegui, and Charles De Ketelaere, as Gianluca Scamacca and Nicolo’ Zaniolo are injured.

In another report, footballitalia.net said that Atalanta have inquired about the availability of Fiorentina winger, Nico Gonzalez, who is also being courted by Juventus.

The transfer market has been dominated by domino effects this summer and a new piece has entered the game.
Gonzalez reportedly has an agreement in place with Juventus, so snatching him away from under their noses would feel like transfer revenge for Koopmeiners.

The Argentina international is also best suited to replacing Lookman, being able to play on the right or left flanks.
It remains to be seen if Atalanta can convince Gonzalez to join them rather than Juventus, but Fiorentina are ready to sell on loan with an obligation to buy for a total €30m.