Tottenham will already regret rejecting Ademola Lookman twice as Atletico Madrid make them pay

In a different world, Ademola Lookman is scoring for fun at Tottenham Hotspur.

Instead, he has enjoyed a red-hot start to life at Atletico Madrid and caught the eye during their 5-2 Champions League thumping of Spurs at the Metropolitano last Tuesday.

Lookman has netted four goals and registered three assists in his 12 appearances under Diego Simeone to date, often leaving his new manager in awe of his quality.

Atletico were able to pounce first to sign him from Atalanta during the winter transfer window, and Spurs’ decision not to sign him now looks worse with every passing game.

Tottenham criticised for not signing Ademola Lookman

Painfully, Tottenham had not one but two chances to swoop for the winger.

Ahead of the return leg against Atletico on Wednesday night, AS printed a detailed report on the 28-year-old’s attempts to secure a switch to the North London side.

After scoring 55 goals in his 137 matches for Atalanta, including a hat-trick in their Europa League final victory over Bayer Leverkusen in 2024, Lookman wanted a change.

He was offered to Tottenham both last summer and in January, only for them to rebuff his advances “despite needing attacking reinforcements and having funds available”.

Spurs then ultimately splashed £40m on Conor Gallagher from Atletico, a serious misstep.

Questioning the decision, AS’s report asked: “Why didn’t Tottenham, at such a low point in their form and with so many injuries, take advantage of this market opportunity?

“They had already had the option to sign him last summer, and the situation repeated itself in January. Lookman fit the profile of a decisive winger they were looking for.”

Several months later, Lookman played 69 minutes against Spurs in Atletico’s 5-2 victory.

Spurs badly needed Lookman

Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20, but Tottenham truly needed to sign the in-demand ace when they were (twice) given the chance – and the statistics this season prove it.

Lookman has had a direct role in seven goals since joining Atletico, while in the same period, Spurs have scored only nine times during their slide down the Premier League table.

Clearly, then, they require a proven scorer, and while the Nigeria international is not quite the finished article, he would have given them more cutting edge in a make-or-break period.

It is somewhat ironic that Spurs missed this open goal, and they are still paying for it.

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