Ademola Lookman has been on fire Atalanta this season, with the former Everton forward enjoying his best campaign yet with the Serie A club.
The Nigeria international has played a major role in La Dea’s push to equal their best post-war league finish of third – and was the club's European hero last year, with Europa League display for Atalanta against Bayer Leverkusen in 2024 ranked at no.39 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest individual performances of all time.
Lookman is averaging better than a goal every other game for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, who look well-placed to secure a second successive Champions League qualification, but will he still be an Atalanta player next term?
The end of Ademola Lookman's Italian adventure looks likely
The 27-year-old, who began his career at Charlton Athletic, joined Atalanta from RB Leipzig in 2022 for a reported 15m Euros, having left Everton for the Bundesliga outfit in 2019.
He did return to the Premier League with loan spells at Fulham and Leicester City, but a permanent move back to England might now be on the cards.
Calciomercato are reporting that Atalanta have made Lookman, who famously scored a hat-trick as Atalanta beat Bayer Leverkusen in last year’s Europa League final, available for sale at £51m.
And, according to CaughtOffside, Manchester United are among the clubs keen to sign the London-born star this summer.
United look like they need to do serious business in order to compete towards the upper end of the Premier League next season, as they stare at their lowest top-flight finish since 1989/90, when they placed 13th in the old First Division.
Indeed, Old Trafford legend Gary Neville recently suggested that his old club require five new players to fit head coach Ruben Amorim’s system.
Could Lookman be one of the missing pieces of the puzzle for United? Well, they did have something of an attacking clear-out in January, with Antony and Marcus Rashford leaving on loan for Real Betis and Aston Villa respectively – and there must be serious doubts over whether either player has a future with the Red Devils, not least given how encouragingly they’ve performed since departing.
Lookman’s attacking credentials certainly aren’t in doubt, given his return of 37 Serie A goals and 18 assists since the start of 2022/23.
For such a versatile player with a natural knack for unlocking defences with explosive dribbling and precision passing, £51m looks like a bit of a steal to us.
