Tottenham Hotspur reportedly held contact with Atalanta over a deal to sign Ademola Lookman this summer, as per transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.
Thomas Frank was keen on purchasing a new wide forward in the recently concluded summer window following Son Heung-min’s move to the MLS.
The Lilywhites were prioritising signing Savinho from Manchester City and made a formal proposal to seal the deal. However, the Citizens eventually managed to keep hold of him.
Following that, Tottenham decided to sign Randal Kolo Muani from Paris Saint-Germain on a loan deal on deadline day. Although he isn’t a specialist winger as he is a centre-forward by trait, he can provide cover on either flank.
Now, on his YouTube channel, Romano states that before signing Kolo Muani, Tottenham were interested in Lookman and even opened talks with La Dea to sign the Nigerian on a loan deal with an option to make the move permanent next summer.
However, the Italian side had no intention of letting him leave on a loan and were only willing to sell him permanently for a fee of around £43m. Inter Milan made the most concrete efforts to sign him earlier this summer and launched a formal proposal.
Lookman to Tottenham
But their offer fell short of La Dea’s valuation, so they didn’t allow his departure. Bayern Munich also launched a loan bid offer, but it was rejected by the Italian side.
Lookman was said to be keen on leaving Gewiss Stadium to take the next step in his career. However, he is now set to continue at Atalanta, and he has been included in their Champions League squad.
Romano said:
“I can tell you that, before going all-in for Randal Kolo Muani, Tottenham considered the possibility of going for Lookman. Different players, of course, one is a winger and one is a striker. But Tottenham wanted to do a similar deal, maybe a loan with a buy option, but Atalanta said forget about that.”
Since joining from RB Leipzig, Lookman has established himself as a talismanic figure for Atalanta in recent years. He is currently at the prime stage of his career and could’ve been a shrewd acquisition for Tottenham had they managed to sign him.
However, Kolo Muani is a highly talented player and should be a very useful acquisition for the North London club.