Football Italia transfer expert Alfredo Pedullà tells The Italian Football Podcast that Ademola Lookman ‘received bad advice’ and the whole situation involving Inter, Atalanta and Arsenal ‘doesn’t look good for anyone.’
The striker has just returned to Bergamo after several weeks of going AWOL, flying around to London and Portugal, refusing to attend pre-season training with his club.
It all erupted when Atalanta turned down an offer worth €45m including add-ons from Inter, insisting that they had promised to sell him this summer for the right price, but only to a team outside of Italy.
Pedullà spoke to The Italian Football Podcast about the while situation and was not impressed with any of the parties involved.
Lookman saga doesn’t look good for anyone
“Look, this is an incredible story, where everyone involved has exaggerated in my opinion, because it is a story that started a month ago.
“Atalanta pay his salary, they make bank transfers to him, they pay him a lot of money. So I ask myself and I ask you: why is he in London? Why is he convinced that someone will come along and liberate him? Why is he convinced that Inter, given some more time, will make the right offer?
“Atalanta are not getting involved and prefer to leave him there.”
It is made all the more curious by the fact that Atalanta and Inter have done a deal during that time to buy Nicola Zalewski.
“It is a story that is difficult to explain because it is also difficult to say that Zalewski, who right now as we are recording this, is undergoing his medicals for Atalanta, that Inter and Atalanta concluded the Zalewski deal without so much as even having spoken about Lookman.
“It is hard to wrap one’s head around that. I don’t think so. I think that Lookman can always end up going to Inter. There could also be an option to go abroad, but he has promised himself to Inter up until now.
“Last year Arsenal were tracking him, I reported it last summer about Arsenal’s interest, but as far as I know right now at this minute there is no offer from Arsenal.”
While African football has rushed to support Lookman in his attempts to liberate himself from the Atalanta contract, refusing to attend training and skipping town is pushing the limits of player power.
“It is a transfer market story, but it is not a nice situation. Because when you are an employee of a club and then stay in London, because you disagree with what your club is doing, for me these situations should be resolved in a matter of days,” continued Pedullà on The Italian Football Podcast.
“But instead over a month has passed, it is not a nice story. It is a situation that I don’t like, it is a situation that doesn’t look good for anyone.
“Also (Ardon) Jashari, because he wanted to go to Milan, did not train with his club. He stayed at his club, he just didn’t train with them. In my opinion this is a more correct way to handle this situation.
“They gave Lookman bad advice. The advice that Lookman has received isn’t good at all.”
It’s all Atalanta’s fault, frankly. None of this is on Inter, who went far beyond by offering $45M. Seriously, I would have doubled Zalewski’s price toward Atalanta to teach them a nice lesson.
It’s on Lookman. He didn’t act like a professional and thought he was entitled to move for what was a relatively low fee, when apparently they made no promises re: moving within Italy. Ndoye went for what – almost 50m Euros? Lookman may be older, but he’s also been the vastly better player to this point. The market for forwards is crazy, and 45m would’ve been very cheap for a player who has performed at the level of Lookman in recent years.
WRONG, again.
“look”has given his all to Atlanta he has paid his dues.
but Atlanta is such a toxic environment
“given his all” by not attending preseason and instead hiding in London and other places – yeah right. this is all on Lookman and people around him. Atalanta made correct decision by not submitting to his extortion attempts
They promised to sell him for the right price but only to teams outside Italy ?
what kind of backward and moronic mentality was that ?
Its a clause held by many clubs and sveral Premiership Club have don’t similar.