Fenerbahce President Explains Why Turkish Club Failed to Sign Ademola Lookman From Atalanta
- Fenerbahce president has opened up on why the club failed to sign Ademola Lookman despite their efforts
- The Turkish club was one of the clubs that actively explored a move to sign Lookman from Atalanta
- Atletico Madrid succeeded in signing him, and Fenerbahce’s president has disclosed a major reason he failed
Fenerbahce President Sadettin Saran has opened up on why the club failed in their pursuit of Ademola Lookman before he joined Atletico Madrid.
Lookman finally left Atalanta after about two years of attempting to leave the Bergamo-based club, which was blocked by the club for different reasons.
Source: Getty Images
Atalanta rejected Paris Saint-Germain’s offer in the summer of 2024, turned down Inter Milan and Bayern Munich in 2025, before he finally left in January 2026.
The Super Eagles forward had two options in January, Fenerbahce and Atletico Madrid, but opted to join the Spanish club over the Turkish club.
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Lookman rejected Fenerbahce’s lucrative offer to join Diego Simeone's side, reportedly to remain in the top five European leagues and for Champions League football.
Why Lookman didn't join Fenerbahce
Fenerbahce President Sadettin Saran has explained why Lookman did not join his club, debunking the rumours earlier circulated in the media.
Saran admitted that not yielding to one of Atalanta’s requests led to the breakdown in negotiations, and the player joined Atletico Madrid instead.
“On December 19th, as soon as my foreign ban was lifted, I went to Milan for Lookman and met his manager; everything went very well,” he said as quoted by STAR.
“Then we spoke with Atalanta officials, and things were positive, but later they asked for a letter of guarantee because they said Turkish clubs sometimes struggle with payments.”
Saran, who recently defeated Ali Koc as president, claimed that he tried to give guarantees that Fenerbahce have no outstanding debts tied to transfers, but Atalanta was not having it.
Napoli requested bank guarantees from Galatasaray before sanctioning Victor Osimhen’s permanent sale in 2025 to be sure the club will comply with the payment plan.
Fenerbahce’s unwillingness to agree to this allowed Atletico Madrid to swoop in and complete the deal worth €35 million for the Nigerian winger.
“Atalanta came again asking for the guarantee. They didn’t want to give the transfer to us, they preferred Atlético Madrid. That’s how the process ended,” he concluded.
Source: Getty Images
Lookman is settling in well at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. As noted by Transfermarkt, he has four goals and three assists in 11 matches in all competitions.
He helped Atletico reach the Copa del Rey final and is on course for their first trophy since 2021 after beating Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-final.
Why Lookman didn't join Bayern Munich
Legit.ng previously reported why Lookman didn't join Bayern Munich when the German Bundesliga club approached Atalanta in the summer of 2025.
The Bavarians proposed a loan, which Atalanta swiftly rejected and quoted a transfer fee Bayern didn't have a budget for, thus collapsing the deal.
Source: Legit.ng
