Arsenal added well to their attacking ranks in the summer transfer window and Mikel Arteta will be extremely glad that one star he formerly targeted didn’t end up at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal’s main recruitment strategy this summer was adding to their squad depth, with injuries derailing any form of solid title push last season.
They’ve done that extremely well, with Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres all coming into their ranks as well as youth stars Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman having added responsibility in the Premier League.
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And it means that Mikel Arteta will be delighted that they didn’t sign Atalanta star Ademola Lookman in the summer after yet another spat at the Serie A club.
Ademola Lookman in action for Atalanta
Photo by MB Media/Getty Images
Ademola Lookman was involved in yet another touchline spat with an Atalanta boss
Atalanta star Ademola Lookman was in the headlines last season when former manager Gian Piero Gasperini called him the ‘worst penalty taker in the world’ in a Champions League tie, leading to Lookman producing a statement criticising his former boss.
And the same has happened again, with current boss and former Southampton gaffer Ivan Juric clashing with the London-born attacker after he was substituted late on against Marseille on Wednesday night.
Ademola Lookman clashes with coach Juric after being substituted.
If he's not being blamed on live TV for missing a penalty kick, he's being denied an almost concluded deal to a European giant…
Ademola has to leave in January! pic.twitter.com/nNVMgR6SMk
— Imbuya Media (@Imbuya_media) November 5, 2025
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It’s the second run-in that Lookman has had with an Atalanta manager in the space of a year, and after his failed move to Inter Milan, it’s clear Lookman needs to move from Bergamo.
Arsenal and Tottenham were interested in Lookman after his exceptional form for the Serie A club, but his antics with club management will not have sat well with Mikel Arteta.
Mikel Arteta looks on during an Arsenal press conference
Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Arsenal were interested in Ademola Lookman to bolster their front line
The Spanish boss has made it clear that he doesn’t tolerate toxic behaviour at the Emirates Stadium.
We’ve already seen that in the past, when he brought the hammer down on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was captain of Arsenal at the time.
He was left out of their clash against Tottenham in the 2020-21 season after disciplinary reasons were cited by Arteta, and later the following season, the same occurred.
In the late stages of the January 2022 transfer window, Arsenal announced Aubameyang’s departure by mutual consent, with Barcelona snapping him up.
If Arteta was willing to omit Aubameyang for behind-the-scenes reasons, there is no way that he would tolerate Lookman having two public clashes and it would have reflected awfully in terms of the strong group dynamic, and Lookman’s eventual transfer value.