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Nigerian winger, Ademola Lookman produced three fantastic finishes against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday to hand Atalanta the 2023/2024 UEFA Europa League title.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Lookman’s first goal came in the 12th minute of the Europa League final before pulling the trigger again to fire past Leverkusen’s goalie, Matej Kovar in the 26th minute of the game.
Lookman nutmegged Granit Xhaka before launching a stunning long-range effort from the edge of the box which went straight into the goal as he completed his brace within 26 minutes of the game.
In a moment of magic, Lookman got his name on the scoreboard again in the 76th minute of play, completing his hat-trick to become the first player to score a hat-trick in a Europa League/UEFA Cup final since Jupp Heynckes for Gladbach in a 5-1 2nd leg away win over FC Twente in 1974/75.
The three goals scored by the Nigerian winger handed Atalanta the Europa League title, dishing a heavy blow to the German side’s dream of winning the treble unbeaten this season.
Born on 20 October 1997, Lookman is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Serie A club Atalanta. Born in England, he plays for the Nigeria national team.
Lookman made his senior debut in 2015, playing as a forward for Charlton Athletic of the Championship.
He signed for Everton in January 2017, where he played mainly as a winger. He has represented England from under-19 to under-21 levels. In 2022, Lookman made his debut for Nigeria.
Born in Wandsworth, Greater London, to Nigerian parents, he attended St Thomas the Apostle College in Peckham where he achieved three A*s and five As at GCSE.
Lookman joined Charlton Athletic’s academy in 2014 after signing from Waterloo, a youth football club based in the London Borough of Lambeth.
His goalscoring record for Charlton’s U18 and U21 teams led to him making a rapid ascent through the Charlton academy ranks and he made his first-team debut for the Addicks on 3 November 2015.
He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion on 5 December 2015, and then followed that up with both Charlton’s goals in a 2–2 draw with Bolton Wanderers ten days later.
Lookman signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Everton on 5 January 2017 for an undisclosed fee, reported as an initial £7.5m potentially rising to £11m with add-ons.
He made his debut for the club ten days later in a 4–0 victory over Manchester City, replacing Ross Barkley in the 90th minute and scoring the team’s fourth goal.
Lookman made his first European appearance for Everton in a 1–0 win over MFK Ružomberok in the Europa League third qualifying round first leg.
Although manager Sam Allardyce stated that Lookman would not be leaving on loan in the January 2018 transfer window, the club eventually arranged a loan move to Championship club Derby County, where they hoped he would play regular first-team football.
However, the player insisted on an alternative move, and instead joined Bundesliga club RB Leipzig until the end of the 2017–18 season. In his first game with Leipzig, Lookman scored the winning goal in the away game against Borussia Mönchengladbach after coming on as a late substitute.
On 25 July 2019, Lookman returned to RB Leipzig on a five-year contract. On 30 September 2020, Lookman joined Premier League side Fulham on a season-long loan. He scored his first league goal for Fulham against Sheffield United on 18 October.
On 31 August 2021, Lookman joined Leicester City on a season-long loan. On 11 September 2021, he made his Leicester debut as a 73rd minute substitute during a 1–0 defeat to Manchester City. On 28 December 2021, Lookman scored the only goal in their 1–0 win over Liverpool.
On 4 August 2022, Lookman joined Serie A club Atalanta on a four-year contract for a reported fee of €15 million. He scored on his debut for the club, a 2–0 Serie A win over Sampdoria on 13 August.
In January 2023, he scored braces in three consecutive matches: a 8–2 Serie A win over Salernitana, a 5–2 Coppa Italia win over Spezia and a 3–3 Serie A draw to Juventus.