The turbulence surrounding reigning CAF African Player of the Year Ademola Lookman reached a boiling point in Bergamo on Monday. Atalanta officially parted ways with head coach Ivan Jurić after only 11 matches of the 2025/26 Serie A campaign.
The decision followed a stunning 3–0 home defeat to newly-promoted Sassuolo, which sent shockwaves across Italian football and finally snapped the club’s patience.
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Appointed over the summer as the successor to long-serving tactical architect Gian Piero Gasperini, Jurić arrived with the mandate to evolve Atalanta’s identity without dismantling the attacking foundation that elevated Lookman into continental stardom.
Instead, La Dea has stuttered. With just two league victories and a return of six points from the last eight Serie A outings, including six consecutive draws, confidence eroded rapidly.
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Those frustrations spilled publicly last week when Jurić was involved in a heated touchline exchange with Nigerian international Ademola Lookman, a confrontation that dominated headlines in Italy.
The optics were disastrous for a club built on chemistry, cohesion, and player empowerment.
In an official statement, Atalanta confirmed the dismissal:
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“Atalanta BC announces that Ivan Jurić has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the first team, along with his closest staff members, Matteo Paro, Miguel Veloso, Pablo Barbero, Stjepan Ostojic, and Michele Orecchio.
“Atalanta thanks Ivan Jurić and his staff for their efforts and wishes them all the best for the future.”
Reports had already suggested that Jurić’s future hinged on two fixtures: the Champions League clash against Marseille and the domestic showdown against Sassuolo. Although Atalanta triumphed in Europe, the humiliation at home on Sunday rendered his position untenable.
The defeat also marks the second straight loss in the league, leaving the Bergamo outfit stranded in 13th place and drifting further away from Champions League qualification, a standard the club has normalised in recent seasons.
Lookman, who has grown into a talisman under Gasperini’s era and remains one of Europe’s most productive and influential wide forwards, is central to the club’s ambition moving forward. Any fracture in that axis was always going to trigger decisive action.
As the dust settles, reports strongly suggest that Raffaele Palladino, formerly of Monza and Fiorentina, has emerged as the frontrunner to assume the technical command. A progressive, possession-leaning coach, Palladino’s arrival would be viewed as an attempt to recalibrate the system around Lookman’s pace, precision, and match-winning instincts.
This is a pivotal reset for a club that prides itself on evolution, not stagnation.
Atalanta have now placed their ambitions and star man back at the centre of the narrative. In Bergamo, expectations never shrink; they sharpen.
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