To borrow and twist the words of Frank Sinatra – if you can’t make it here, you can’t make it anywhere. Eleven Premier League goals across six years, three clubs and nearly 100 games, Ademola Lookman was a bust.
Rarely trusted to start, Everton paid £11million for the Charlton winger in 2017 and used him from the off just seven times in the league. He was, we decided, a flop who had failed to come good on teenage promise. After an equally unimpressive stay at RB Leipzig, he moved to Italy two years ago and, with it, the relative obscurity of mid-table Atalanta.
On Wednesday night here in Dublin, and still at the age of 26, Lookman became the first player since 1975 to score a hat-trick in a major European final, his goals dismantling previously unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen.
So direct and devastating was he, you wondered if the England Under-20 World Cup winner could make a bolt for the Euros. Alas, he declared for Nigeria two years ago, a fact forgotten amid his departure from relevance.
But as he sat clutching his match ball post game at the Aviva Stadium and spoke with intelligence and charm, it was hard not to wonder if Everton just isn’t the right environment for some players to thrive. Even less so under Sam Allardyce, whose go-to wideman was once Henrik Pedersen.
Ademola Lookman led Atalanta to Europa League glory as he scored a sensational hat-trick
He was unplayable as he helped his side overcome the previously unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen
Lookman has enjoyed a fascinating journey from the cages of Peckham to European glory
Sources on Merseyside say it was the wrong place at the wrong time and Lookman struggled to settle as a young man in new surrounds away from London. There was a fallout, too, with Under-23s boss David Unsworth. Lookman resembled a ‘lost soul’ around the club and effectively told Allardyce that his style of football did not suit him. The lost soul lost three years at a key development stage.
What followed wasn’t much better – the move to Leipzig and loans with Fulham and Leicester – and it’s fair to say he has only felt at home at two clubs, his first and his current. He has 30 goals for Atalanta in two seasons now.
But it should be noted that Wandsworth-born Lookman was late to the professional game. The story goes that the unsigned 16-year-old played a match for London Counties at Charlton’s academy and, so good was he, they did not want to let him leave the building.
Jason Pearce played with Lookman at Charlton and is now their Under-18s coach. He told Mail Sport: ‘He was on the bench and came on and scored four goals and the club were like, “Wow, who is this kid?”, and wanted to sign him straight away, and they made it happen.
‘As soon as I saw him train, I realised he was one of the best natural talents I had ever come across. He could play off both feet, he could change direction so quickly, had a natural ability to beat people, but as well was such a lovely young boy. A nice, genuine, humble boy. I just wanted to see him do well and I think everybody did.’
Lookman initially broke through at Charlton, before they sold him to Everton for £11m aged 19
However, he struggled at Everton, with Lookman seemingly labelled as a Premier League flop
It has taken the best part of a decade to see him show the elite-level talent they predicted, and his goals were being played over and over in Charlton’s academy on Thursday.
‘It gets all the lads talking,’ said Pearce. ‘Players they’ve seen come through, like Ademola, scoring a hat-trick in the final. It’s fantastic for the football club because it gives that little bit of inspiration to our young lads.’
That Lookman went unnoticed while playing Sunday league football – on parks with potholes and leaves but still prowled by scouts – might suggest that late development could well be a recurring theme. Maybe the best is yet to come. He certainly thinks so.
‘I’m pleased with the progress I’ve made, but this is just the beginning,’ he declared at the Aviva.
Felix Emanus, his former Sunday league coach, was also at the Europa League final.
‘I cried when the third goal went in,’ he said. ‘I’m so happy for Ade. He works so hard, a quiet lad. Sometimes he’s misunderstood because of his quietness, but he’s a great kid. He wants to learn, wants to always get better and wants to reach the top.’
This, then, might only be halfway.
‘Nobody could ever imagine he could make this much progress,’ said Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini.
But what have they done to him in Bergamo?
Lookman has been transformed at Atalanta, becoming the elite-level talent that was predicted
The winger has gone from Premier League bust to the best player in a major European final
‘The first few conversations we had made me look at football a bit differently,’ said Lookman of Gasperini.
‘It made it simpler in my mind in terms of what he expected from me. The city of Bergamo gives me a sense of calmness. It’s a very calm, relaxed city and that has helped me a lot with my living style. I’m focused on the important things.’
Lookman has spoken previously about spacial awareness and, sticking to the notion of simplifying things, standing in the right place at the right time.
For his first goal against Leverkusen he was stood in the blind spot of a defender, who could not believe his eyes when Lookman appeared on his shoulder to score.
For his second, he found space in a crowded area of the pitch. For his third, he isolated himself one on one versus a slower opponent. It was awesome to witness.
So, from Premier League bust to the best player in a major European final. It has been an unconventional journey but, to again borrow loosely from Sinatra, Lookman is doing it his way.