Europa League hero and Super Eagles of Nigeria forward, Ademola Lookman is the cynosure of all eyes after he scored a spectacular hat-trick against a 51-match unbeaten Leverkusen thus ending the unbeaten run of the German champions and their quest to win a treble this season.
Ademola Olajade Alade Aylola Lookman MON 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.
Lookman’s Country of Birth
Ademola Lookman was born on the 20th October 1997 in Wandsworth, London, United Kingdom, he’s aged 26 years.
Lookman is of average height that stands at 5 ft 9 in (1.74 m)
YOUTH Career
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.
England were champions of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, after defeating Venezuela in the final of the 2017 tournament. From October 2023, the squad was rebranded as the England Men’s Elite League Squad to reflect their participation in the Under 20 Elite League.
He played an integral part in the 2017 winning U-20 team.
However, his desire to don the white and Red jerseys of England was repeatedly dashed hence his decision to make a U-turn and play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria after being convinced by Amaju Pinnick.
Lookman made his senior debut in 2015, playing as a forward for Charlton Athletic of the Championship.
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.
He signed for Everton in January 2017, where he played mainly as a winger
He also made his debut for the Merseyside 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 also made his first European appearance for Everton in a 1-0 win over MFK Ruzomberok in the Europa League third qualifying round first leg.
Eventually, he would be loaned out to Bundesliga club, RB Leipzig in the 2018 January Transfer window.
In his first game with Leipzig, Lookman scored the winning goal in the away game against Borussia Monchengladbach after coming on as a late substitute.
In July 2019, Lookman returned to RB Leipzig on a five-year contract, before being loaned out to Premier League side Fulham on a season-long loan in September 2020.
Ademola Lookman finally joined Serie A side, Atalanta on a permanent move in the 2022-23 season for €9.35 million from German side, RB Leipzig.
Ademola Lookman became only the fourth footballer to score a hat trick in a one-legged European final after Ferenc Puskas (vs. Frankfurt 1959/60, vs. Benfica 1961/62), Alfredo Di Stefano (vs. Frankfurt 1959/60), and Pierino Patti (vs. Ajax 1968/69).
On 22 May 2024, he scored his first career hat-trick in the Europa League final in the Dublin Arena, as Atalanta defeated Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 to end their 51-game unbeaten run and win the trophy for the first time in history.
Super Eagles Journey
After being convinced by former Nigeria Football Federation boss, Lookman made his debut for Nigeria as a 24-year-old in 2022 after waiting endlessly for an England senior national team call-up, despite representing the Three Lions across multiple age grades.
As a player for the Super Eagles, Lookman has been touted as one of the future stars of the national team, having helped his club side lift the 2023/24 Europa League title.