Brendan Rodgers has told Arsenal why they must complete £60m transfer before deadline day

Arsenal transfer news as Mikel Arteta is told multiple reasons to complete the signing of Ademola Lookman this summer

Arsenal have been linked with a late move for Atalanta superstar Ademola Lookman before the transfer window closes next Friday.

The Gunners are expected to be busy in the final eight days of the window as they work to complete the signing of Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad. The midfielder is close to finalising a move to the Emirates Stadium for £34million.

Mikel Arteta's business looked to be done once the Spain international arrived, but reports in the last 24 hours have suggested an opening bid for Lookman has been placed on the table.

Journalist Alfredo Pedulla has reported that Arsenal have offered €50m (£42.5m) plus bonuses for the Atalanta forward. The possibility of including Jakub Kiwior as part of their deal is being considered by the Gunners to get the move over the line.

Atalanta are trying to tie Lookman down to a new contract in an attempt to keep him, but in case a move does happen, it's thought a fee of around €65m to €70m (£55.3m to £59.5m) would be enough to convince them to sell.

Lookman is a man in high-demand after his impressive 2023/24 season. The Nigeria international scored 17 goals and assisted 10 goals for the Serie A side, playing largely through the centre.

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The versatile forward previously played in the Premier League with Everton before returning in 2021 with Leicester City. During his time at the King Power Stadium, Lookman impressed, but his loan move wasn't made permanent due to the Foxes' financial circumstances.

Brendan Rodgers, who worked with Lookman at Leicester, spoke of his admiration of the 26-year-old after his hat-trick in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen. "The only sad part for us [at Leicester] was that, at the end of that season, we could have bought him for £14million, but you think back to that summer, we couldn't sign any players," he told talkSPORT.

"One of my guys who I worked closely with at Celtic and Leicester is a guy called Lee Congerton and by then Lee was the general manager of Atalanta. When he knew that we weren't able to take him, he took him then to Atalanta and he has done absolutely brilliantly there, so I am so happy, the goals he scored!"

He continued: "I was so, so happy for him watching the game last night. I go back to my night here at Celtic. I met Ade when he knew he was going to leave Charlton. We had looked to get him up here at the time, but it was so early in the window that by the time the window finished, we couldn't afford him.

"The money was too much, and he ended up going to Everton. We always kept in contact, so when I was at Leicester and he was at Red Bull [Leipzig], we had the chance to take him on loan.

"So I took him in, and he was absolutely brilliant. What a professional he is, the way he looks after himself, the extra work he does in training. Those goals that he scored, he practises those after training; he would always do extra training. His professionalism was unbelievable."

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