Not Released By Atalanta To Inter Milan, Ademola Lookman Is Disappointed

JAKARTA - Inter Milan had to bite their fingers after Atalanta reportedly rejected the latest offer for their flagship striker, Ademola Lookman, in the 2025 summer transfer market.

According to reports from several Italian media, quoted in Jakarta, Saturday, the offer from Inter Milan was deemed not to meet Atalanta's expectations.

Italian Football, for example, reported that the latest transfer value proposed by Inter in the amount of 42 million euros (Rp859 billion) was still denied by Atalanta.

Previously, reported by ANTARA, Saturday, August 2, the club from Bergamo also did not accept Inter's initial offer of 40 million euros (Rp764 billion) a few weeks ago.

Lookman, a 27-year-old Nigerian national team player, is Inter Milan's main target to strengthen their attacking line ahead of the 2025/2026 season.

However, Atalanta seemed reluctant to release the player, especially because they still had a sell-on fee payment obligation to RB Leipzig, the club where Lookman played before joining Atalanta in 2022.

This made the club nicknamed La Dea insist on getting a minimum transfer value of 50 million euros (Rp955 billion) so that the transaction was financially profitable.

Lookman himself is reportedly eager to join Inter Milan. Another Italian media, Corriere della Sera, reports that Atalanta has offered a contract extension with a salary of five million euros (Rp95 billion) per season to keep Lookman, but the player prefers Inter's offer despite its lower value, around four million euros (Rp76 billion) per season.

Lookman's disappointment reaction to Atalanta's refusal was seen when he deleted all uploads related to Atalanta from his Instagram account and changed his profile photo to plain black.

Until now, Atalanta has not made an offer back or mentioned an official valuation for Lookman, which indicates their reluctance to release the player.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan are reportedly not planning to increase their bid again after this rejection, so this transfer may end soon unless there is a change in attitude from one of the parties.