Atletico Madrid unhappy over Super Eagles treatment of Ademola Lookman

2014 La Liga winners Atletico Madrid have been left displeased with the way the Super Eagles handled Ademola Lookman over the March International break, Afrik Foot reports.

The 28-year-old was brilliant for Eric Chelle’s men during the AFCON 2025 tournament, prompting Los Colchoneros to splash 35 million Euros to secure his services.

Since joining Diego Simeone’s side, Lookman has provided big moments against big sides like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur.

Atletico Madrid unhappy with Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman treatment

Since moving to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, Diego Simeone has been very meticulous in the management of his newly-acquired asset.

Ademola Lookman has yet to complete a game he’s started for Atletico Madrid. In the games he’s started, the most minutes he’s played is 73, which came in the 4-0 win over Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.

However, in the Super Eagles’ friendly games against Iran and Jordan, the former Atalanta man played 179 minutes. 89 against Iran, while completing the game against Jordan.

As per Spanish outlet, AS, Atletico Madrid feel hard done by, considering Lookman might be fatigued on his return, having done a huge load of work over 180 minutes.

They also feel ‘disrespected’, according to the report, largely because Chelle had no reason to overwork their player in friendly games, when minutes could have been shared evenly across the board.

The growing frustration comes with Los Blancos also losing vital players like Johnny Cardoso, Jan Oblak, Marc Pubill, Pablo Barrios and Alexander Sorloth to injuries.

Simeone has work on his hands, with a tired frontline. They’ll play against Barcelona thrice between the next two weeks.

Atleti will play against Barcelona (H), Barcelona (A), Sevilla (A), Barcelona (H), Real Sociedad (N), Elche (A), and Athletic Club (H) over the next three weeks.