With the 2024 summer transfer window slowly edging towards deadline day, it is being claimed on the rumour mill this week that Arsenal and manager Mikel Arteta are planning a rather unexpected move for Atalanta attacker Ademola Lookman.
The 26 year old Nigerian international has been a bit of a nomad across his career so far, moving on at fairly regular intervals during his professional years in the game. He has largely been a success and impressed where ever he has gone so far though and that is certainly true of his spell at Serie A side Atalanta.
Having arrived at the club from RB Leipzig for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2022, 77 appearances later have seen a return of 32 goals – which is a career best return so far, and with 17 goals to his name in the 2023/24 campaign, he added a further ten assists to his record.
If recent reports are to be believed, it is being claimed that Arsenal are now preparing a £43 million bid for his services in the belief that he could further help close the gap on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side given that they have lost out on the title for two seasons running by a matter of points.
Complicating the rumour is the suggestion that the London club could also be willing to offer out of favour defender Jakub Kiwior into the deal in an effort to sweeten the move from the Italian sides perspective.
Although the versatile 24 year old (centre half, or left back) is not in Arteta’s current plans, since moving to the Emirates Stadium back in 2023 he has featured for them 27 times (eleven starts) in the Premier League, and has now won 26 caps for his country – Poland – most recently finding himself in their squad for the 2024 European Championships hosted in Germany.
With Atalanta seeming to want in the region of £60 million for Lookman, it would seem they value Kiwior at around the £17 million mark – it seems Arsenal would be open to a straight cash and swap deal, separate transactions achieving the same outcome or a loan to buy arrangement.
Lookman has long been linked with French side Paris Saint-Germain this summer, but at least so far with the transfer window edging towards a close, if they do have an interest in him, they are yet to firm it up with a concrete bid that tests La Dea’s resolve.
Much like PSG’s apparent interest, Liverpool and new manager Arne Slot are also credited with an interest in Lookman, but again, there has been no direct move as of yet.
