Former Nigerian international Godwin Okpara has expressed concerns over the way Nigerian players are treated by clubs in the Italian Serie A, following Ademola Lookman’s exit from Atalanta, SportPremi reports.
Lookman, 28, finally got his exit from Italian side Atalanta during the winter transfer window when he left the club to join Atletico Madrid in Spain, months after the club had denied him a transfer.
Last summer, former Italian champions Inter Milan sent multiple bids to La Dea to acquire the services of the Super Eagles star and despite meeting the valuation, the club refused to sanction a sale and kept the player against his wishes.
Before then, Atalanta also rejected bids from PSG in January 2025 and rebuffed interest from other clubs in the league.
The player made his intentions to leave known to the club and skipped preseason before he was left out of the first few matches of the season.
However, Lookman is not the only Nigerian player to have suffered the same ill-treatment as Victor Osimhen also went through a tough time before getting his exit from Napoli.
Osimhen was one of the most wanted players in the summer of 2024, with the likes of PSG, Chelsea, Manchester United and Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli expressing their interest.
Despite initially agreeing a fee with Al-Ahli to sell the Nigerian, the Partenopei changed their asking price which made the Saudi club pull their plug on the deal.
Chelsea also deemed Napoli’s asking price too high, before he eventually moved to Galatasaray on a season-long loan deal.
Okpara hits out at Italian clubs over treatment of Nigerian players
Reacting to Lookman’s €40 million move to Atletico Madrid, Godwin Okpara criticized clubs in the Serie A over their recent treatment of Nigerian players, also citing Osimhen’s situation at Napoli as an example.
“When you look at Lookman, he is a player that the whole nation loves, he’s a humble person and a well-determined player”, Okpara said.
“What I observe in this Italian league is the way they are treating our players. I don’t understand. Lookman is not the first player. When you look at when [Victor] Osimhen was there, the same issue.
“Most of our players are having issues in the Italian league. I don’t know why. And at the end of the day, when they leave there, you see that their game changes. Look at what Osimhen is doing in Galatasaray”, he concluded.
