Ademola Lookman on strike! Atalanta star refuses to show up for second training session after accusing club of 'broken promises' amid Inter offers

After being absent from Monday afternoon's training session, Lookman has now skipped Tuesday's session too, as a protest against Atalanta's refusal to grant a transfer to Inter. According to Gazzetta, the player is currently down with a calf injury and was scheduled for an individual training session on Tuesday.

Lookman submitted a transfer request after Atalanta rejected two Inter bids worth €40 million (£35m/$46m) and €45m (£39m/$52m). However, his plea fell on deaf ears, and the player took to social media, accusing Atalanta of turning back on an agreement. Atalanta CEO Luca Percassi responded in a press conference, saying the agreement was brought into existence last year when they rejected an offer from Paris Saint-Germain and stated that he can only move to a top team outside Serie A. The player and the club now stand on opposite paths, and as a protest, Lookman is avoiding heading to the training ground, where fans have put up banners against him. Inter, on the other hand, are set to prepare a new bid for their key target.

The Nigerian wrote in a recent social media post: "Despite now receiving an offer in alignment to what I believe had been discussed, sadly the club are blocking the opportunity for reasons I do not understand. As a result and after many months of broken promises and what I feel has been poor treatment towards me as both a human being and as a professional footballer, sadly I feel I have no choice but to speak out for what I believe is right and I feel that enough is enough."

If everything goes well in Lookman's favour, he'll be joining Inter on an annual salary of €4.5m. His contract is expected to be until 2030.