For those who have kept a close tab on the blossoming career of Ademola Lookman, his recent performance which has attracted the attention of the world is not surprising. He is a prodigy who appeared to be grabbing the headlines for good reasons at the right moment.
It is on record that Lookman’s professional career began in 2015 in Charlton Athletic in England where he scored 10 goals in 45 appearances. From 2017-2019, he played for Everton in the English Premiership and scored a single goal in 36 appearances before he was loaned out to RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga where he signed a permanent deal in 2019. He was later loaned to Fulham and Leicester City from where he signed a four-year deal with Atalanta in 2022.
Although he is not blessed with so much physicality, the immensely talented attacking winger slotted himself perfectly into the Serie A side with eye-catching performances even in his first season. On his Atalanta debut, Lookman scored in the 2-0 defeat of Sampdoria.
Consequently, he finished his first season in Serie A with 15 goals in all competitions. But his second season has proved to be the turning point in his career as he netted 16 times including the historic hat-trick in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen.
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Without a doubt, the 2024 season will remain evergreen in the memory of the striker who started his international career with England before switching nationality to Nigeria. Before he dumped his adopted country, he had won the FIFA U-20 World Championship with England in 2017.
It is also on record that before he switched allegiance, he had thrice rejected Nigeria, first in 2017 shortly before he became a World Champion, and twice in 2018 when the manager of the senior national team of England, Gareth Southgate, convinced him that he had a future with the Three Lions.
However, in February 2022, FIFA approved Lookman’s request to play for Nigeria. So, in March 2022, he made his debut for the Super Eagles against the Black Stars of Ghana in the final round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers which ended in a 0-0 draw in Accra.
His initial days with the Super Eagles weren’t convincing enough but Lookman actually showed the real stuff he is made of at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire where he clearly overshadowed his teammate and reigning African Footballer of the Year, Victor Osimhen to emerge as Nigeria’s best striker.
He scored three goals to propel the Super Eagles to the final which they lost 1-2 to the hosts, the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire. Before the final, he hit a brace against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in the Round of 16 and scored one against Angola in the quarter-final. At the end, he made the Team of the Tournament along with compatriots, William Troost-Ekong and Ola Aina.
In total, the Super Eagles forward has recorded 21 appearances with six goals since he switched allegiance to play for Nigeria in 2022. At the end of the 2023 AFCON, Lookman and his teammates were hosted by the Federal Government and conferred with the award of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) in recognition of their performance.
However, after the AFCON mishap in Cote d’Ivoire, it was double misery for Lookman on May 15, at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, where he once again came close to winning a major silverware but fell at the final hurdle again. Atalanta were beaten in the final of this year’s Coppa Italia Cup by Juventus. But what came out of the prodigious talent a few weeks later in Dublin, showed the character of someone who is undaunted by failure.
At the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Lookman scored a historic Hat-trick to win for Atalanta their first major trophy since 1963. As a matter of fact, he became the first player to score a hat-trick in a one-legged Europa League final since Pierino Prati in 1969. But beyond the spectacular goals, the Super Eagles star stole the show on the night with his deft touches on the ball. Indeed, he held the global audience spellbound.
Expectedly, the football fraternity unanimously acknowledged his feat as the world football governing body, FIFA, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and renowned footballers, both serving and retired, hailed his accomplishment in the final of Europe’s second tier inter-club competition.
It is, therefore, not surprising that the once underrated attacking winger is the interest of some of the biggest clubs in European football. His market value has risen astronomically but he is still the target of clubs with deep pockets. A return to the Premiership is also a huge possibility for Lookman.
Furthermore, his performances for club and country have positioned him among the front-runners for this year’s African Footballer of the Year award. Already his teammates in the Super Eagles have launched a social media campaign for him to replace his compatriot, Osimhen as Africa’s best male footballer.
It is against the background of his excellent showing in the final of this year’s Europa League that Nigerian football fans are hoping that Lookman will continue with his good form as the Super Eagles get set to prosecute two crucial 2026 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa on June 7 and Benin Republic on June 10.
He is expected to play a key role so the news that he will be coming late to the team’s camp in Uyo due to club engagement didn’t go down well with the teeming fans of the Super Eagles.
However, the good news is that even as other influential players like Victor Osimhen, Troost-Ekong, Moses Simon and Zaidu Sanusi are out of the matches due to injuries, the man of the moment, Lookman is not associated with any injury concerns. He is right now carrying the hopes of millions of Nigerians who want the Super Eagles to return to the World Cup in 2026.
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