There was a feeling of deja vu among Nigerian fans this week.

After Atalanta were dumped out of the Champions League by Club Brugge, their manager Gian Piero Gasperini ripped into Ademola Lookman.

The Serie A side came into the second leg of the playoff tie trailing 2-1.

Within the opening 45 minutes, the Belgian side were leading 3-0 and effectively out of sight.

Please note that Lookman had not played any part in these 135 minutes.

The Super Eagles forward was only brought on at the start of the second half of the second leg.

Within seconds of taking to the pitch, he quickly pulled one back.

Lookman had the chance to complete a brace, but he saw his tame penalty effort palmed away by Simon Mignolet.

The game ended 3-1 on the night, with Atalanta bowing out 5-2 on aggregate.

“Lookman was not supposed to take that penalty, he is one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen,” Gasperini fumed at full time.

“He has a frankly terrible record even in training, he converts very few of them.

“Retegui and De Ketelaere were there, but Lookman in a moment of enthusiasm after scoring decided to take the ball and that was a gesture I did not appreciate at all.”

In a statement the next day, Lookman made it clear that “during the match the designated penalty taker instructed me to take the penalty; and to support the team I took responsibility in the moment to do so.”

The 27-year-old also wrote that “it saddens me on a day like this to have to write this statement – most of all because of what we have achieved together as a team and as a city.”

What the reigning CAF Player of the Year was reminding Gasperini was the hat-trick he scored in last May’s Europa League final to book his club’s ticket to this season’s Champions League.

But this feels all too familiar.

The year before, in the same Serie A, Osimhen scored 31 goals in all competitions as Napoli clinched their first Scudetto in 33 years.

Osimhen finished the campaign as Serie A’s top scorer and was voted African Player of the Year in December 2023 – just days before signing a bumper new contract, worth over £10m ($13m) a year.

Napoli finished 10th the next season after Luciano Spalletti’s exit and Antonio Conte eventually took over last summer.

Conte froze Osimhen out, stripped him of the no.9 shirt and brought in Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea.

Osimhen eventually sealed a season-long loan deal to Galatasaray, but is widely expected to leave Napoli on a permanent basis in the summer.

“I think we might be jumping the gun a bit, in the sense that it might not be peculiar to Nigerians,” Wale Agbede, the Head of Sports at Plus TV, told DAILY POST.

“I do not think it’s racism. For those who follow Italian football, there is always stories about Gasperini and his management style. He picks on people, he’s very aggressive and white players even complain about him.

“Gasperini allowed Papu Gomez, who is probably the best player in Atalanta’s history to leave the club in the middle of the season, because he won’t apologize. But the player himself came out in front of the entire squad to apologize.

“Gasperini even tried to attack Gomez physically.

“His time at Inter Milan, there were similar stories.

“So, I don’t think it is about Nigerian players getting the short end of the stick. Because in Osimhen’s situation, I am of the opinion that he shouldn’t have signed a new deal. If you want to leave next season, then don’t sign a new deal now.

“My opinion has always been that clubs are not loyal to players. So players should not be loyal to clubs too.

“However, I still think Osimhen is victim in the saga with Napoli.

“Kvaratskhelia left Napoli for PSG in January. And the reason that deal was not complicated is because he didn’t sign a new deal.”

Lookman’s current contract with Atalanta will expire in June 2026, but he is expected to depart Bergamo this summer.

Agbede adds: “Well, it is more than my opinion at the moment.

“We have seen reputable transfer journalists saying there is already an agreement between Lookman and the club that he will leave at the end of this season.

“They would be looking out for a fee around 50million.

“So, it seems he is more on his way out than staying. I think he’s also going to want to leave.”