Arsenal enter race for Nigerian sensation

Arsenal have been told they must pay €50 million in order to sign Ademola Lookman at the end of the season.

That is according to Corriere dello Sport, who report that Atalanta will grant Lookman’s wishes to move to a bigger club at the end of the season.

They won’t sell him in January but they will be open to letting him leave if a club pays €50m or more in the summer.

READ MORE: Champions League top scorers 2024/25

Lookman has emerged as one of Europe’s most admired players in 2024, scoring a legendary hattrick for Atalanta in the 3-0 Europa League final victory over Bayer Leverkusen.

So impressive has Lookman

been, he has more goal contributions – goals and assists – than any other Serie A player in all competitions this calendar year.

This has attracted the interest of some of Europe’s biggest clubs, with PSG close to signing the Nigerian in the summer.

In the closing days of the summer window, PSG turned Lookman’s head and he agreed personal terms on a contract worth €5 million year until 2029.

READ MORE: Which football managers have been sacked this season?

Lookman stunned Atalanta by informing them that he wanted to leave the club for PSG.

This move infuriated Atalanta, who reluctantly were forced to leave Lookman out of their squad for their opening game of the Serie A season, a 4-0 win at Lecce.

Eventually, the move did not go through and Lookman was reintegrated into the Atalanta team where he has enjoyed a brilliant start to the season.

Lookman to leave Atalanta at end of season?

But he would still like to join a bigger club in 2025 and Arsenal have been heavily linked in recent weeks.

Arsenal are looking to strengthen their goal-shy attack after a difficult start to the season that has seen them already fall out of the title race.

The Gunners see the Nigeria international as an ideal player for the left wing of Mikel Arteta’s 4-2-3-1 formation.

Leandro Trossard is expected to leave Arsenal in the January transfer market, while Gabriel Martinelli has seen his levels drop over the last year.

Lookman has eight goals and five assists in 13 games in all competitions for Atalanta this season.

A fortnight ago, Lookman scored two fantastic goals as Atalanta won 3-0 at league leaders Napoli. He followed that up with another goal last midweek as Atalanta won 2-0 at Stuttgart in the Champions League.