ATALANTA CEO Luca Percassi has insisted that the club are not willing to let go of Ademola Lookman despite the forward handing in a transfer request.
The Super Eagles star asked to be left out of last night’s Serie A opener agaimst Lecce following reported interest from Paris Saint-Germain, but Atalanta are hoping he will change his mind.
Percassi says the door is open for Lookman and fellow wantaway player Teun Koopmeiners to return to the squad of the UEFA Europa League holders.
“I always reaffirm what my father says, we are Atalanta, we must retain our identity and have clear objectives. It is also true that last season, for the first time, the coach, club and directors aimed to keep all the big plyers who were the protagonists of an extraordinary campaign with Atalanta,” Percassi told Sky Sport Italia.
“That was the idea, to confirm all our first-choice players. We were aware there could be turbulence on the transfer market. We didn’t expect certain things to happen, but the club is prepared to invest, if there are opportunities then we are prepared to take them, and we’ll see what happens over the next few days.”
Percassi insists that Atalanta are taking the unexpected transfer requests in their stride as he blames the behavior on ‘bad advice’.
“We are very relaxed because our idea, shared by coach, club and owners, was for the first time in our history not to let these important players go,” he stressed.
“We as a club have always respected our commitments and we cannot wait for this transfer window to close, as it reserved a few ugly surprises too, like Gianluca Scamacca’s injury.
“All players belong to Atalanta and the club will decide what to do for the good of this team.
“Unfortunately, too often these lads are given bad advice. The fact the transfer market is open when games are played frankly makes it feel like it’s infinite. We had tried to regulate the timing of these things over the summer, but it was not possible because the Saudi Arabian leagues wanted an extension.
“I do feel this needs to be regulated better.”
Nigeria international Lookman scored a hat-trick in May as Atalanta defeated Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final for their first-ever piece of European silverware.
Last night, without Lookman and Koopmeiners, Atalanta thrashed Lecce 4-0 away in their opening Serie A fixture.
