Atalanta co-owner, Stephen Pagliuca, has backed Ademola Lookman following his public disagreement with head coach, Gian Piero Gasperini.
The tension arose after Gasperini criticized Lookman for missing a crucial penalty during Atalanta’s 3-1 home defeat to Club Brugge in the UEFA Europa League last week. The coach went as far as calling Lookman “one of the worst penalty takers,” a comment the Nigerian winger later described as disrespectful.
Addressing the incident, Pagliuca admitted that Gasperini was wrong to single out Lookman but confirmed that the matter has been resolved internally.
Speaking to Gazetta dello Sport, Pagliuca said:
“We want to move on from this situation, and I think we have, especially after the 5-0 victory against Empoli.
“He (Gasperini) made a mistake by speaking about an individual. At Atalanta, with the Percassi family, we follow a policy—when things go wrong, we take responsibility and focus on how to improve.”
Despite the rift, Lookman played a vital role in Atalanta’s recent 5-0 win over Empoli, a performance that seems to have eased tensions between the player and the coach.