The Nigerian Ademola Lookman, African Player of the Year 2024, had no rival after a great CAN and an legendary Europa Cup final. This player, as elegant as he is disconcerting on the pitch, took time to reveal himself. Now there seems to be no limit.
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Ademola Lookman, whose name in French means “the man who looks”, is above all a pleasure for the eyes for any football lover. His parents, who gave him the first name Ademola, literally meaning “crowned with wealth”, had certainly predicted the golden destiny of their only son in a family of three. Because here he is now king of Africa in a year 2024 that he highly dominated on the continent to logically receive this Monday, December 16 the trophy of African Player of the Year.
A great admirer of the Brazilian Robinho, inspired by the masters Messi and Ronaldo, Ademola Lookman, a confusing player on his left side, with the finesse of a star dancer, and now with the precision of a surgeon, left his mark on the year . It started with a CAN 2024 final with Nigeria, which he chose to join 20 months earlier after wearing the jersey of the England youth team, the country where he was born. On his choice, he will confide in France Football : “ I played with the English youth teams. I even won the Under-20 World Cup (in 2017). But Nigeria has always been a subject. My father, especially, talked to me about playing for Nigeria. I thought a lot about what was best. I felt this decision with my heart. I have a personal, intimate connection with Nigeria. »
In history…
And this was felt in Ivory Coast. Lookman, with his three goals and his influence on the field, was the revelation of the tournament in a Nigerian team where we more expected the star Victor Osimhen, freshly crowned African Player of the Year 2023.
But the kid, who dropped a few words of Yoruba while receiving his prize on Monday, was definitely going to dazzle the football world during the Europa League final with a resounding hat-trick against Bayern Leverkusen (3-0). At the end of this final, his coach Gian Piero Gasperini confided to him: “Your performance was extraordinary. You wrote your name in football history. » The Nigerian striker had just earned a 10/10 rating in the Team and joined legends like Jupp Heynckes, Alfredo di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, authors of a hat-trick in the European Cup final.
Anyone who watched this final or one of the summaries could not be indifferent to the magic of the native of Wandsworth (London) during the 90 minutes spent on the pitch at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Everything was there. Everything that characterizes the game of this 27-year-old boy with 1.74m of talent: explosiveness, realism, technique, audacity, elegance, inspiration.
During the months that followed, Ademola Lookman would demonstrate that this evening was not just a flash in the pan. With Atalanta, current leader of Serie A, he is currently having a royal start to the season which sees him rack up goals (8) and assists (4) in 13 Italian championship matches. He also exported his talent to the Champions League (three goals, an assist) with a final, masterful performance against Real on Matchday 6 which earned him the man of the match title despite his team’s defeat ( 2-3).
It took time, several clubs (Everton, Leipzig, Fulham, Leicesterp), and a click at Atalanta Bergamo to now see Ademola Lookman flourish over time and become the best African player of the year 2024.
Today, the biggest clubs in Europe (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal, PSG) have an eye on the Nigerian jewel who has never been so strong in his career and never so ready to aim for the highest peak in the world football. “ I was a kid from South London who wanted to be who I am; be recognized for prestigious awards like this. » Lookman was speaking about his nomination for the Ballon d’Or where he finished in 14th place as the only African named in the list of 30.
From now on, he will be able to speak with pride of this title of (undisputed) king of Africa.
Also readFootball: Nigerian Ademola Lookman crowned African Player of the Year 2024