Another top-notch performance for Atalanta of Italy this past Saturday by Ademola Lookman appears to have cemented an unassailable surge for him to the title of African Footballer of The Year 2024, sports247.ng reports.
Two goals and two assists in a 6-1 demolition of Verona highlighted another epochal outing for Lookman, who already looked good to clinch the African gong with his treble of goals and sterling displays for Nigeria at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
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He followed it up with a historic hat trick for Atalanta against Bayer Leverkusen of Germany in the 2024 UEFA Europa League final, thereby securing more credible data for the former England youth international – but Ademola Lookman is not ready to rest on his oars.
Born October 20, 1997 in Wandsworth, England to Nigerian parents, who named him Ademola Olajade Alade Ayiola Lookman, this velvety winger has waxed stronger with each passing year and keeps getting better with time.
Now 27, Lookman began his career in England with non-league side, Waterloo, from where he moved to Charlton Athletic and got his senior debut in 2015.
His sparkle began to emerge in bits and pieces, but his best deals back then were on loan from Everton to RB Leipzig of Germany, then from there to Fulham and Leicester City, until his breakthrough transfer to Atalanta on August 4, 2022.
Before that move, the only time Lookman scored double figures in a season were 10 he notched during his days with Charlton, but he has not romped home 28 beauties in only three seasons with his Serie A side.
His haul of 28 goals in 68 matches has reflected also on his scorecard with Nigeria, as Lookman, who turned down the Super Eagles’ overtures twice in 2018, now has eight goals from 26 caps, following his debut in 2022.
He started justifying his four year contract with Atalanta (worth 15m euros) quite early, as he scored on his debut in a 2-0 win over Sampdoria on August 13th, 2022 and then netted three straight braces in January 2023 – versus Salernitana, Spezia and Juventus.
Lookman then struck his first career hat trick in the Europa League final; helping his side to a 3-0 win over fellow-Nigerian striker, Victor Boniface’s Leverkusen on May 22, 2024 in Dublin.
He became the next player to net a hat trick in a European club final – after Pierino Prati first performed the feat in 1969.
To further cement his status as the next African player of the year (and successor to fellow-Nigerian, Victor Osimhen), Lookman recently became the first ever Atalanta squad member to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or when the roll call was released on September 24, 2024.
He was then named alongside Super Eagles’ skipper, William Troost Ekong, Simon Adingra of Cote d’Ivoire as well as the Morocco duo of Achraf Hakimi and Soufiane Rahimi in the shortlist for APOY 2024; but all fingers are pointing in the direction of Lookman as ‘the man who looks best to clinch the award.’
That would be an astonishing turnaround for someone who was reluctant to play for Nigeria until just two years ago. What a transformational story of ironies, oxymorons and paradoxes.
He previously helped England win the 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup and twice snubbed Nigeria’s lure in 2018, but eventually made the switch in 2022.
On February 10, 2022, FIFA eventually cleared Lookman to play for Nigeria at senior level, and he debuted for the Super Eagles on March 25, 2022 away to Ghana, in the first leg of an ill-fated final qualifier for the World Cup in Qatar.
He then had an outstanding Africa Cup of Nations debut early this year in Cote d’Ivoire, where his two goals against Cameroon and one versus Angola helped Nigeria all the way to the final, but they ended as runners-up behind the hosts.
Lookman has already hit six goals this year for Nigeria (as against one each in 2022 and 2023), while hitting four with Atalanta (with which he notched 13 in 2022/2023 and 11 the following season).
His personal honours include back-to-back awards as Atalanta’s player of the season (2022/2023 and 2023/2024), member of 2023 AFCON All Stars 11 and Europa League team of the season (2023/2024). So, what or who is there to stop Ademola Lookman from being named African Footballer of The Year 2024?
