Aston Villa linked with ex-Premier League star ready for transfer after manager outburst

Aston Villa have been credited with an interest in Atalanta attacker Ademola Lookman, who is likely to leave the reigning Europa League champions in the summer transfer window. Nigerian international Lookman has previous experience of English football having come through the ranks at Charlton Athletic before he moved to Everton in 2017.

A loan spell with RB Leipzig led to a permanent move to the Bundesliga side in 2019, but Lookman returned to the Premier League for separate loan spells with Fulham and Leicester City. With no future at Leipzig, Lookman moved to Atalanta in 2023.

It has been a highly successful spell in Serie A; Lookman, who won the U20 World Cup with England in 2017, lifted the Europa League in Dublin last summer when Atalanta became the only team in the entire season to overcome German champions Bayer Leverkusen - and Lookman plundered a hat-trick.

Domestically, Lookman has continued to produce; he has already matched last year's goal haul of 17, and averages almost a goal every other game across his 107 outings for the Bergamo outfit, but relationships have become strained with manager Gian Piero Gasperini recently.

Gasperini recently called out Lookman following his penalty miss in Atalanta's 3-1 Champions League loss to Club Brugge last month: "Lookman was not supposed to take that penalty, he is one of the worst penalty takers I've ever seen. He has a frankly terrible record even in training, he converts very few of them. In a moment of enthusiasm after scoring he decided to take the ball and that was a gesture I did not appreciate at all."

Lookman hit back, via social media: “Being singled out in the manner I have been not only hurts but feels deeply disrespectful, not least because of the immense hard work and commitment I have always put in each and every day to help bring success to this club and to the incredible fans of Bergamo.

“In truth, I have dealt with many difficult moments during my time here – the majority of which I have never spoken about because in my opinion the team must always be protected and must come first. This makes what happened last night even more hurtful. Along with our incredible fans, we as a team are hurting too with last night’s result.

“During the match the designated penalty taker instructed me to take the penalty; and to support the team I took responsibility in the moment to do so. Life’s about challenges and turning pain into power which I’ll continue to do.”

Most recently, Lookman cast doubt over the idea that he and Gasperini had put their issue, played out in public, behind them. It has led to speculation that the winger is on his way out of the club in the summer and a host of Premier League clubs are interested in completing a transfer, including Villa.

The Lions added Donyell Malen in the January window, but their loan agreements with Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford - at least initially - will expire in the summer. They will also welcome back Emi Buendia from Leverkusen, while the club are on the look-out for another centre forward to complement Ollie Watkins.

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