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Ademola Lookman is a name good to go along with the rise of talent in the global football arena, as many football fans seem to know. He was born on 20th October 1997 in Wandsworth, Greater London, to Nigerian parents. The journey leading him from street Peckham to one of the key wings of Serie A team Atalanta and Super Eagles of Nigeria is everything but uneventful.
Early life and development
Growing up in Peckham, he faced many of the challenges common to such an inner-city environment. Football was the avenue in which he found some solace and determination. He had a really successful grounding in education at St Thomas the Apostle College, eventually gaining excellent GCSE results. Perhaps because of such distractions, or maybe despite them, Lookman concentrated on his love of football and would play with anyone and everybody on any available open patch of grass or hard surface.
He began his professional footballing career when he was signed by Waterloo-a youth club based in Lambeth. His skills soon caught the attention of scouts as he was called into the academy of the Charlton Athletic team back in the year 2014. Lookman began to sweat and bear laboriously until he finally earned a call-up for his senior international debut for Charlton Athletic back in November 2015 at just 18 years of age.
Rise through Charlton Athletic
It was at Charlton that Lookman showed he could thrive as a forward. In his time at the club, he scored ten goals in 45 appearances. The displays he put in soon attracted bigger clubs, and it wasn’t long before Everton FC came calling.
In January 2017, Lookman signed for Everton for an initial reported fee in the region of £7.5 million. He came off the bench to make his debut for the Toffees against Manchester City and, with a cool finish, showed he can handle the pressure.
Loan spells and challenges
Having started so well at Everton, Lookman struggled to nail down a regular starting place, especially under the stewardships of Ronald Koeman and Marco Silva. In search of more game time and experience, he embarked on a series of loan spells that would shape his career.
His first loan move was to RB Leipzig in January 2018. In eleven appearances of the loan spell in the Bundesliga, he was off to a flying start as he scored five times, once as a winner against Borussia Mönchengladbach on his debut for the club.
After a successful loan at Leipzig, he returned to Everton but was unable to nail a permanent spot in the first team. He will join Fulham on loan for the 2020-21 season and, despite contributing four goals, he was unable to prevent their relegation from the Premier League.
His next move was to Leicester City for the 2021-22 season on loan. He did, however, feature more regularly there and plundered goals six times in 26 appearances as Leicester finished respectably and won the FA Cup.
Permanent transfer to Atalanta B.C
Another full direction of his career came when, in August 2022, Ademola Lookman signed permanently with the Serie A club Atalanta for a reported €15 million fee. That became a turn into the new chapter in the quest for recognition in one of the great Leagues of Europe.
Lookman wasted no time stamping his influence at Atalanta, where in his first outing against Sampdoria, he was in the starting lineup and became an integral part of the team. Pace and skillful dribbling came coupled with an eye for goals punctuated his performances throughout the season. Notably, he scored a brace in consecutive outings against Salernitana and Spezia, showing just when it mattered most, he could deliver.
Probably the highlight of his career thus far came during the 2023 UEFA Europa League Final when he scored a historic hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen, winning Atalanta their virgin Europa League title and making him the first player in history to score a hat-trick in a one-legged European final since 1969.
International career
His international career was no less interesting, too: the attacker had represented England at several youth levels, including the winning under-20 team at the World Cup in 2017, before the big call which saw him choose a country was made. Ademola Lookman then switched national allegiance with a lot of deliberation and consideration and family advisers to Nigeria in early 2022.
Of course, this was music to the ears of any Nigerian fan who wanted to see him don the Super Eagles’ jersey. He switched allegiance and shortly afterward, made his debut for Nigeria, going straight away to score in friendly matches and impressing in competitive fixtures. The highlight of his Super Eagles career so far was helping secure runner up with the Nigerian national team at the AFCON 2023 (Africa Cup Of Nations) where he scored 3 goals throughout the competition, helping beat both Cameroon and Angola before scoring Nigeria’s only goal in the 1-2 loss to Ivory Coast at the finals.
Personal life and legacy
Off the pitch, Lookman is known to be very humble and committed to giving back to society. He does talk about his upbringing very frequently, molding him into the person he has become today, and so on the importance of education and sport.
From running along the streets of London for football to a celebrated professional player, it is a meteoric rise that has inspired young athletes all over the world. It’s a story of resilience in the face of adversity, how talent put together with hard work culminates in success.
One of them is Ademola Lookman, whose career graph is still going upward in both the country and at the international level. His passage through the clubs he has played so far has been replete with experience that shaped him into the player he is today. These performances will grant him an automatic stay in Atalanta and add further to his reputation, besides inspiring other upcoming stars.
