Man Utd to RIVAL Arsenal for top transfer target?

Man Utd look set to rival Arsenal for the transfer of Ademola Lookman this coming summer.

Lookman is currently starring for Atalanta but with a contract running out in 2026 and no signs of a renewal, the Italian side are having to consider their options.

And it has been reported that TuttoMercatoWeb are saying that Man Utd are interested in signing Lookman this summer, and that Atalanta have set the asking price at £50 million.

However, as a bonus for Man Utd they're also saying Atalanta could be open to accepting a lower fee, which makes sense as they otherwise risk him leaving for nothing the next summer.

READ MORE: CONFIRMED: Ademola Lookman makes 'dream' transfer decision

Lookman had previously been linked to Arsenal (and even Liverpool) and while those rumours have not died down, rumours of Man Utd's interest could well spark a bidding war for the striker who has 17 goals in 29 games so far this season.

Lookman has been a tremendous success at Alanta with 49 goals in 106 games for La Dea, including a spectacular hat-trick in last season's Europa League final where he led Atalanta to beat the hitherto undefeated Bayer Leverkusen and claim the club's first major trophy since the 1963 Coppa Italia.

His arrival would instantly add goals and dribbling to both Man Utd and Arsenal. Both sides could do with exactly those attributes as well, so this could just come down to which side is willing to pay more (or, perhaps, Arsenal being in the Champions League will give them an edge that United can't match).

Gasperini's Lookman mistake

Lookman has become so central to the way Atalanta play that the club were recently eliminated from the Champions League by Club Brugge in large part because Lookman was only fit enough to play the last 45 minutes of the second-leg.

He scored mere minutes into his appearance off the bench, but when Atalanta later earned a penalty the Nigerian stepped up, took it and missed.

"Ademola Lookman is one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen," said Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini after the game.

"He wanted to take the penalty after scoring a goal, he took the ball despite Mateo Retegui and Charles De Keteleare available to take it… I didn’t like what Lookman did."

These comments led to Lookman defending himself on social media, which in turn led to Gasperini hinting that he may quit at the end of his contract.

Meanwhile the Atalanta co-owner Stephen Pagliuca has come out to clear the air. "We want to put this situation behind us," Pagliuca said, before adding; "He made a mistake by speaking about an individual. At Atalanta, with the Percassi family, we have a policy: if things go wrong, we take responsibility. We look at ourselves and how to improve."

Man Utd (and Arsenal) will surely try to capitalise all these confusion and frustration and sign the firebrand Lookman to improve their attack.