On Sunday, there were rumors circulating that the French giants had inquired about the Nigerian’s availability with his entourage.
The Nigerian international has requested not to be called up for the Monday (today) match against Lecce, according to Football Italia, despite the fact that no proposal has been made to the club.
Our correspondent’s investigations verified that Lookman was not scheduled for the Serie A trip to Lecce.
Lookman joined Atalanta for €9.35 million plus bonuses in 2022 from RB Leipzig. Since then, he has scored 32 goals and provided 18 assists in 79 games in competitive play for the Black and Blues.
After Lookman became the sixth player to score a hat-trick in a European final (a feat originally accomplished by Jupp Heynckes for Borussia Monchengladbach in the 1975 Uefa Cup), he cemented his place in history. In Dublin, Lookman scored all three goals as the Italian team defeated Bayer Leverkusen.
Gian Piero Gasperini, the manager of Atalanta, had high expectations for the Nigerian player to carry on with his excellent play this season, but he has suffered a crushing setback.
Teun Koopmeiners, who is also engaged in transfer negotiations with Juventus, is already absent from the coaching staff.
The only strikers available to the Bergamo boys are Mateo Retegui and Charles De Ketelaere due to the injuries sustained by Gianluca Scamacca and Nicolo Zaniolo.
Lookman’s predicament is comparable to that of his teammate Victor Osimhen of Nigeria, who was also absent from Napoli’s Sunday away match against Hellas Verona after requesting to quit the team with plans to join PSG or Chelsea.
Giovanni Manna, the director of Napoli, verified last week that the Nigerian striker had asked to leave the Italian team.
Osimhen was once again absent from Napoli’s Coppa Italia first-round match against Modena at the Stadio Maradona last Saturday, having missed all of the team’s preseason friendlies.
The Nigerian’s final game wearing an Azzurri shirt came on the last day of the 2023–24 Serie A season, when the team drew 0-0 with Lecce.
Atalanta is aiming to hold onto Hold Lookman, their most valuable asset, for the duration of the season, while Napoli has indicated that Osimhen is not part of their plans for the upcoming campaign.
