Ademola Olajide Lookman, a 19-year-old, was born in
England to parents of Nigerian descent and is eligible to play for the national
teams of both countries. He currently plies his trade in the English Premier
League for Everton Football Club. He began his career at Charlton’s academy in
2014 after signing from London-based youth club Waterloo FC. After just one
season slugging it out with the rest of the raw talent, Lookman was promoted to
the Addicks’ senior side in 2015.
He made his Charlton Athletic debut in November 2015,
a 1-0 loss to MK Dons in which he played 35 minutes as a substitute. The left
winger who can play as a second striker or centre-forward, first start for the
club came later that month in a 1-0 win at Birmingham. Since then, Lookman
became established as a first-team starter, celebrating his first goal on
December 5 in a 3-2 loss at Brighton. He bagged 10 league goals in 45
appearances for the Addicks and will be a huge miss at Charlton.
Lookman has made five appearances at England Under-19
and three appearances at the Under-20 level, scoring once for the latter.
He was snapped up by Everton for an initial £7.5
million from Charlton, under the watchful eyes of Everton’s director of
football, 52-year old Steve Walsh, a man reputed for unearthing the likes of
Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante to inspire Leicester’s title triumph.
Lookman’s coach, Ronald Koeman, has nothing but praise
for the next breakout star, saying his impact in training has been as
immediate.
“I have been really impressed by the young boy and
what he is showing us,” said Koeman.
“Of course it
was a big moment for the boy because it made it even more special than it was.
But I am really impressed with his attitude and his training because he can be
a really top player.
“I’m impressed with him because he came from a lower
league, a lower football team and with all due respect, you come in with a
Premier League team, good players, with high intensity and you see the reaction
of the rest of the players and football players know exactly after two days if
a new signing is that signing or is just OK. He brought that quality.
"Even with his age and without any experience of
the intensity of the Premier League. We
like to have that intensity in training.
If I see his level during the whole week that is what I’m impressed
with. I don’t say that he doesn’t need to learn but we know that. It was
already a big compliment for him that he was part of the squad of last weekend
and not several other players with more name or experience.”
“Ademola is fast and technically very strong,” the
Blues boss said after the game at Selhurst Park. “He can play with his left
foot and with his right, and that is what we like.
“It has been a good experience for the boy [playing
against Palace and Manchester City]. Last time it was four or five minutes, on
Saturday it was 20-25.
“It’s the time we need to give the boy to help him
understand what the Premier League is like. But he is in a good way at the
moment and he is a really good player.”
His goalscoring debut in the side's 4-0 win over
Manchester City equally caught the attention of Bewarang, who succeeded the
late Shaibu Amodu as NFF's technical director in July.
"I saw him against Manchester City and I was
excited to see a young player of Nigerian descent shine, so I thought why
not," said Bewarang.
"It is the duty of the national coach [Gernot
Rohr] to invite players to the national team, but we will help him check
Lookman's eligibilty."
If, Bewarang succeeds in persuading him to play for
the Nigerian senior side rather England, he will join the elite list of former England
youth internationals like Sone Aluko, Victor Moses, Shola Ameobi and Alex Iwobi
for the Super Eagles.
"We've managed to get players like Moses and
Iwobi in the past and Lookman will be a great addition to the national team if
we got him," Bewerang added.
"We have a young side, the new coach is building
a strong squad and having some youngsters from the Premier League [Kelechi
Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi] could help his decision.
"I am not desperate to see this happen but we
will give it a shot."
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