Why We Rejected Inter Milan’s Offer For Lookman – Atalanta
Atalanta Chief Executive Officer Antonio Percassi has opened up on the reasons behind the club’s decision to reject Inter Milan’s offer for Ademola Lookman.
The former Europa League champions turned down Inter Milan’s last offer worth €42 million plus €3 million in bonuses on Friday after their initial bid of €40 million plus €5 million in add-ons failed.
Lookman called out Atalanta on Sunday, calling on the club to sanction his move to Inter Milan ahead of the 2025-26 Serie A season.
However, Percassi confirmed that the club had an agreement with Lookman to allow him leave this summer but not for teams in the Serie A.
He said there is an agreement to let Lookman leave this summer, but with two important conditions: First being that it is to a ‘top’ European club, and the second being that that club is outside Serie A.
Percassi said: “It’s a good opportunity to clarify what happened. Last year, after a 20 million offer from PSG, the player had asked us to be sold.
“Atalanta, being a credible club, had promised to sell the player this window based on two conditions that he himself had asked of us: First, to go to a super, top European club, and that he would never be seen in Italy wearing a shirt other than Atalanta’s, given what he did for the club and what he received from the club.
“Today, as you know, the situation is very different. The club is always careful when evaluating the value and timing of its players, but as always, it is Atalanta, the club, that decides.”
Lookman joined Atalanta in 2022 from Leipzig, he recorded 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.
In the 2024-25 season, Lookman recorded 27 goals involvements for Atalanta leading them to a Champions League place.
Lookman became the seventh Nigerian player to win the African Footballer of the year award in 2023 after leading Atalanta to the Europa League, and helping Nigeria to second place finish at the 2023 Nations Cup.
Why We Rejected Inter Milan’s Offer For Lookman – Atalanta is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
