Manchester United are locking horns with Liverpool for Ademola Lookman, and both clubs have reportedly opened talks for the Atalanta winger.
Lookman, who has an impressive 11 goals and five assists in 19 appearances for Atalanta this season, looks set to leave the Bergamo side.
Sky Sports CH, via Football Talk, claim that Atalanta “are prepared to negotiate the departure of the former RB Leipzig man”.
United and Liverpool are named as having made “first contact” with the player’s representatives, but the report suggests they are not the only clubs interested in the Nigeria international.
Football Talk judge the Old Trafford side as having a “distinct advantage” over Liverpool in the race for Lookman, based on their successful dealings with the Serie A side in the past.
Man of the moment Amad Diallo made the switch in October 2020 in a deal worth up to £37m after featuring just four times for the Italian side.
More recently, centre-forward Rasmus Hojlund completed the same journey in a blockbuster £72m move.
The Danish youngster had only spent one season at the Gewiss Stadium, scoring nine goals in 32 Serie A matches, but did enough to catch the eye of Erik ten Hag, who picked him out to spearhead his attack.
Should Lookman follow the pair to Old Trafford, he could feasibly slot straight into a lineup with them both, either as an attacking midfielder or a winger.
He has also been successful as a striker, and could provide some welcome competition for Hojlund and the mercurial Joshua Zirkzee, but his versatility would keep the entirety of United’s attacking department on its toes.
Lookman’s stock has never been higher, with the 27-year-old named CAF African Footballer of the Year earlier this week.
The honour tops off an incredible year for the player, during which he scored a hat-trick in the Europa League final to single-handedly secure Atalanta their first-ever piece of European silverware.
Football Talk relay that Atalanta’s asking price would be around £50m and unsurprisingly describe Lookman as a “big game player”.
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
