- Inter have stopped their pursuit of Lookman
- Communicated to Atalanta when negotiating for Zalewski
- Nerazzurri interested in Bade and Kone
According to Fabrizio Romano, Inter have told Lookman’s entourage they are ending their pursuit after failing to reach an agreement on the player’s transfer fee. After Atalanta rejected Inter’s €45 million (£38m/$53m) bid for Lookman, the Nerazzurri decided to move on to other targets following tactical and technical assessments of the squad, Calciomercato reports. This was conveyed to Atalanta during talks that saw the two clubs agree a fee for Polish international Nicolas Zalewski’s move to Bergamo.
Lookman turned down offers from Napoli, Atletico Madrid and Arsenal while also submitting a transfer request to push for a move to Inter as he accused Atalanta of breaking promises. The club’s CEO clarified that they had only told him the agreement to let him leave only applied to teams outside of Italy.Lookman subsequently went on strike, refusing to attend pre-season training and matches to force a transfer to Inter.
With their pursuit of Lookman over, Inter have shifted focus to strengthening other areas. Two names on their list are Roma‘s Manu Kone and Sevilla‘s Loic Bade. However, negotiations with Roma for Kone remain stalled over the transfer fee, while Bade appears close to joining Bayer Leverkusen under Erik ten Hag.
With Inter officially ending their pursuit of Lookman, it will be a long and difficult road for the Nigerian to reintegrate at Atalanta after going on strike. Inter, meanwhile, will shift focus to alternative targets as they look to get their transfer market back on track.
