The transfer window for the 2024/25 season is sure to be filled with rumour mills as the club managers assess their talent and look on how to improve their playing squad.
It is pertinent for most clubs to sign the best available players, and none would be hotter on that list than 26 year old Ademola Lookman.
The forward grabbed his first career hat-trick, in the Europa League final of all places, as Atalanta defeated Bayer Leverkusen to become the first player to score a hat-trick in a one-legged European final since Pierino Prati in 1969.
Indeed, everything Lookman kicked at the Dublin Arena turned gold as he masterfully converted all three of his shots on target in the game. This virtuoso display gave Atalanta the first-ever European title in the club’s 116-year history and Lookman is now the sixth player to score a hat trick in a major European final alongside names like Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano and Jupp Heynckes.
This victory is in keeping with Atalanta’s incredible nature of pulling above their weight under Gian Piero Gasperini as they were expected to lose honourably.
What was supposed to be Bayer Leverkusen and Xabi Alonso’s night turned into their first defeat in an unprecedented 51-game unbeaten season.
The Bundesliga champions have displayed their immaculate spirit of recovery and never-say-die attitude in matches all season, and with talented players like Florian Writz, Granit Xhaka and Victor Boniface, they were favourites to complete an invincible treble.
Lookman opened the scoring with a typical back-post finish only 12 minutes into the final and he doubled the advantage with a stunning effort 14 minutes later. The 26-year-old wrapped up his historic night with the best goal of the lot as he slammed a powerful left-footed strike into the top corner from a counterattack.
Lookman has had something of a journeyman career so far having previously played for Everton, Fulham, Leicester City and Leipzig.
The winger could have been Leicester’s for a cheap fee after a decent loan spell from RB Leipzig that yielded eight goals and five assists in 42 matches but the club failed to take up the option to sign him permanently for £14m.
However, he could be set for a return to London as he is attracting interest from several English clubs including West Ham whose new manager, Julen Lopetegui, sees him as a potential solution to the need for quality on the left wing.
Mohammed Kudus has made the right flank his own while Lucas Pacqueta is the first-choice in the number 10 role, and Lookman is believed to be the man to complete that forward trio. Meanwhile, the Hammers’ ability to sign him might depend on resolving Paqueta’s betting charges and any potential transfer fees from his sale. Such a transfer would surely see West Ham tickets increase in sales, as the teams attack would look potent with Bowen up front.
Lookman could now cost as much as £30m which would mark a significant profit for Atalanta who paid £7m to sign him only two years ago. The forward has exploded in Italy with a career-high 15 goals and eight assists in his first season, improved by 16 goals and nine assists in 2023/24.
Lookman’s rise to prominence was undoubtedly kickstarted by his international career having rejected the Super Eagles thrice before finally switching international allegiance in 2022. Playing with the national team raised his profile and he is also enjoying his best spell in the green and white kit with three goals and an assist en route to the Africa Cup of Nations final in Cote d’Ivoire.
His contributions were crucial as he supplied the cross for Victor Osimhen’s equalizer in the opener against Equatorial Guinea before scoring twice in the 2-0 Round of 16 victory over Cameroon and then the winner in the quarter-final against Angola. He was duly named in the competition’s Team of The Tournament.
At the club level, Lookman can count himself unlucky to miss out on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the Europa League Player of the Season mainly because of the striker’s 10 goals and three assists on the way to the semi-final in a season when he became the highest goalscorer ever in the competition.
| Senior career | |||
| Years | Team | League Apperances | League Goals |
| 2015–2017 | Charlton Athletic | 45 | 10 |
| 2017–2019 | Everton | 36 | 1 |
| 2018 | → RB Leipzig (loan) | 11 | 5 |
| 2019–2022 | RB Leipzig | 11 | 0 |
| 2020–2021 | → Fulham (loan) | 34 | 4 |
| 2021–2022 | → Leicester City (loan) | 26 | 6 |
| 2022– | Atalanta | 62 | 24 |
| International career | |||
| 2016 | England U19 | 5 | 0 |
| 2016–2017 | England U20 | 15 | 4 |
| 2017–2019 | England U21 | 11 | 1 |
| 2022– | Nigeria | 23 | 6 |
Hard work pays off
Lookman grew up in a struggling Nigerian immigrant family in Wandsworth, London, and he was overlooked by numerous clubs until his late teens. Despite multiple trials, he was never selected by an academy but eventually joined the amateur side, Waterloo FC, to play in the Sunday League until he was 16.
The attacker’s dreams got a huge break when Charlton Athletic picked him up after facing his London County FA representative side in a friendly match in 2013. Ademola was only on the pitch due to one of his teammates getting injured but his talent shone on that day and the club made the right decision to sign him up.
Lookman impressed in the Charlton youth team and was playing with the senior side within two years. He also represented England’s youth setup and played for the country across several age-grades including the team that won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2017 where he scored three goals.
An £11 million transfer to Everton materialized in 2017 but there was still a lot more to learn at the highest level of the game and he was loaned to RB Leipzig due to limited first-team opportunities. Lookman made a bright start to life in Germany but he struggled to retain the form after his deal was made permanent.
The constant search for knowledge and bettering himself as a player led Lookman to the shores of Bergamo in Italy and Gasperini’s doorstep which has revitalized the Nigerian’s career. His first season was improved upon as he helped Atalanta reach the Italian Cup final and win the Europa League in his second campaign.
He is now the team’s most valuable asset and should a move to West Ham be completed this summer, it would represent a triumphant return to the scene of his lowest moment as a professional, when he had a terrible attempted Panenka penalty saved in the last minute as Fulham slipped to a 1-0 defeat at the London Stadium. To make matters worse, the Cottagers got relegated that season with Lookman’s incident being one of the sad footnotes of that poor campaign.
He is now a complete attacking player and would add a real boost of quality to most Premier League teams.
