- Atalanta determined to keep Nigerian ace
French giants Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have reportedly made a staggering offer of โฌ4.5 million per season to acquire Nigerian striker Ademola Lookman from Serie A club Atalanta.
With the exchange rate estimated at approximately N1768.72 to one euro, Lookman could potentially earn around N7,959,240,225 per season.
His total annual package could be even higher when match bonuses and image rights are included.
Lookmanโs market value is currently estimated at โฌ40 million.
Italian news outlet Calciomercato has indicated that PSGโs offer represents a significant increase from his current โฌ1.8 million per season salary at Atalanta.
ย โ For now, no contact has been made with Atalanta but they want a fee of at least โฌ40 million to sell the ex-Fulham player, who seems quite interested in a move to Paris.
In whatย can be regarded asย a dramatic twist of fate , PSGย had long been linked to Lookmanโs compatriotย andย Napoli striker, Victor Osimhenย but news emerged on Sundayย thatย the Parisiansย have already made contactย withย representativesย of Lookman.
Lookman who was Atalanta hero in their Europa Cup victory last seasonย against Bayer Leverkusen, has since demanded a transferย to PSG.
Heย wasย promptly omittedย fromย his sideโsย 4-0 thrashing of Lecce in their Serieย A openerย on Monday.
Yet Atalanta CEO Luca Percassi has been quoted as sayingย that the club is determined to keep all its last seasonโs key actorsย when pressedย about the ongoing transfer speculation surrounding Lookmanย and Teun Koopmeiners who is eyeing a move to Juventus.
โLast year, we had the desire to keep all our star players who were protagonists of an extraordinary season with us,โ Percassi reportedly told Sky Italia. โWe are calm. For the first time in our history, the idea was not to let anyone leave.
โAll players are Atalanta players and will only leave on our terms.โ
The 26-year-old Lookman joined the Serie A side in 2022 on a four-yearย till June 2026 but itโs becoming increasingly clear that Atalantaย wouldย not letย ย that the Nigerian internationalย go on cheap.
Lookmanย who turns 27 in October, scored a hat-trick in the Europa League Final against Bayer Leverkusen last season. He was purchasedย from RB Leipzig in 2022 for โฌ9.35m plus bonuses.
Born and raised in London, he scored a total 32 goals with 18 assists in 79 competitive appearances for Atalanta, most recently the UEFA Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Lookman, who has played 23 times for Nigeria, scored three goals in his countryโs run to African Cup of Nations final over January and February.