Atalanta defender reveals what teammates told Lookman during transfer speculation 

Atalanta central defender Berat Djimsiti has revealed what his teammates told Ademola Lookman during the speculation linking the Ballon d'Or nominee with a departure from the Gewiss Stadium in the final weeks of the summer transfer window.

Just like his international teammate Victor Osimhen, the future of Lookman dominated the back pages at home and abroad, but a move did not happen despite reports linking him with a possible transfer to the Ligue 1, and a return to the English Premier League and German Bundesliga.

Paris Saint-Germain had the Atalanta Player of the Season on their radar following his impressive performances last term, especially in the Europa League final, where he scored a historic hat-trick in a 3-0 win versus Bayer Leverkusen.

However, the Parisians abandoned their pursuit of Lookman as manager Luis Enrique decided to replace the injured  Goncalo Ramos internally. 

In truth, Lookman was angling for a move away from Atalanta and trained apart from the first team until he was reintegrated after a proposed move fell through.

The Super Eagles star was not called up for Atalanta's opening two games of the Serie A season and was a non-playing substitute at Inter Milan before the international break. 

Sharing how the Atalanta players advised Lookman, Berat Djimsiti was quoted as saying by SOS FANTA: "We know Lookman , he had difficulties in the market but we told him to stay calm and he would return to being a protagonist".

On his season debut in the Serie A, Lookman was the star of the show,  leading Atalanta to a 3-2 win against Fiorentina by providing an assist and netting the decisive goal in the first minute of stoppage time in the first half.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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