Atletico Madrid have agreed a €40m package with Atalanta for Nigeria international Ademola Lookman and improved their salary proposal to the forward, putting them ahead in the race for his signature, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The Spanish club have matched Fenerbahce’s proposal to Atalanta and are ready to proceed with the transfer, while the Turkish side remain stuck over payment terms and bank guarantees.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano posted on Saturday night that Atletico Madrid have matched Fenerbahce’s proposal for Lookman, with a €40m package agreed with Atalanta.

“Fenerbahce have still not agreed on payment terms and bank guarantees, Atletico are ready. Salary proposal to Lookman from Atletico has also been improved,” Romano wrote.

The development comes after negotiations between Fenerbahce and Atalanta ground to a halt on Friday night, despite the Turkish side’s willingness to invest around €40m on the 28-year-old forward.

According to reports in Italy, talks between Fenerbahce and Atalanta came to a definitive halt, with no agreement in place on payment between the two clubs, nor on the bank guarantees that would be needed for the transfer to go ahead.

Fenerbahce had been pushing to sign Lookman from Atalanta before the close of the January transfer window, with representatives from both clubs meeting on Friday.

However, Atletico Madrid’s readiness to meet Atalanta’s demands has now put Diego Simeone’s side in pole position to sign the Nigerian forward before the transfer window closes on Monday.

Lookman had expressed interest in a move to Spain during the summer, when Atletico first tried to sign him.