Fenerbahce President Sadettin Saran has opened up on the situation surrounding the Super Lig side’s failed transfer bid for exciting Super Eagles attacker Ademola Lookman during the winter window, Footynaija.com reports.
After enduring a difficult start to the 2025/2026 campaign, Lookman reminded the world of football of his incredible quality at the Africa Cup of Nations where he bagged seven goal contributions (3G, 4A) to help Nigeria finish third.
Following his impressive outing at the AFCON, interested clubs began to look his way amid persistent rumours of an imminent exit from Atalanta and Fenerbahce were one of the front-runners to acquire his services.
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The Super Lig giants tabled a €35 million bid for Lookman during the winter transfer window and it seemed as though the Nigeria international would be joining the likes of Victor Osimhen and Wilfred Ndidi in Turkey.
However, Atletico Madrid entered the frame late on and convinced the former CAF Player of Year to move to the Spanish capital instead, effectively hijacking that deal from Fenerbahce.
Reflecting on that transfer saga, Saran revealed that everything was already in place for Lookman to join the Yellow Canaries. But Atalanta’s dawdling over payment terms opened the door for Atletico Madrid to hijack proceedings.
“Come to the Lookman thing. I don’t like to talk about players who we don’t have on our team,” the 61-year-old said in a recent interview with Fenerbahce TV, via STAR.
“On December 19th, as soon as my foreign ban was lifted, I went to Milan for Lookman, and I met his manager. I had friends. It went very well.
“Then we talked to the club officials, and it went very well, and a week later they asked for a letter of guarantee, he said they couldn’t get their money from the Turkish clubs.
“We said we owed no one, we said, we’ll pay our debts, don’t ask for a letter of guarantee. Lookman met with our coach 2-3 times, and Lookman wanted to come, and the fee went up to 35 million Euros.
“Atalanta came again and asked for a letter of guarantee. They didn’t want to give it to us, they wanted Atletico Madrid. That’s how the process ended.”
Lookman has settled nicely into life at Atletico Madrid, with the former RB Leipzig man immediately making a strong impression on his new manager and teammates. He has four goals and two assists in 11 appearances for Los Colchoneros so far.
