The man who A-Demolished Leverkusen and his rise to glory

The name Ademola Lookman is echoing across the footballing planet. The once-great talent of Charlton Athletic, whose development was once taken over by Everton, defeated the Invincibles last night. In a perfectly set match by Gian Piero Gasperini, in which every screw of Atalanta's machinery in Dublin was perfectly tightened, he - that light-footed Nigerian who was laughed at by the whole of Europe less than four years ago - took the spotlight.

Ademola Olajade Alade Aylola Lookman is a very special player, although, for the masses, he 'resurrected' in this final against Leverkusen, and with his three goals put an end to Bayer Leverkusen's record. And that's not all he did lately - with nine goals in 29 games he has had a great Serie A campaign, even stringing three consecutive braces in January, one against Juventus (3-3).

Lookman was born in Wandsworth, England and even won the under-20 World Cup with this country in 2017. Ademola, in fact, was an under-19, under-20 and under-21 international with England, but he got tired of waiting for the Three Lions call-up at the senior level.

He has already collected 21 caps and six goals for Nigeria.

"My parents are Nigerians and I went many times as a child... but it was a difficult decision," the 26-year-old said before making his debut with the Super Eagles in March 2022.

As a professional, he has always shown signs of greatness - he scored on his debut with Everton in the Premier League and in his debut in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig. He also found the back of the net in his first Serie A match with Atalanta, but more importantly, with the Goddess, he has managed to consolidate himself. He arrived in the summer of 2022 for nine million euros and has accumulated five goals in 11 games in this Europa League campaign.

Strangely enough, in England, he scored 11 goals in five seasons in the Premier League...

When he arrived in Italy, he immediately imposed himself as one of the candidates for the Capocannoniere award (Serie A top scorer). Never had an African player been proclaimed 'top scorer' in the 'calcio' elite - until his countryman Victor Osimhen did it with Napoli a year ago.

Lookman did not have it easy as a child, before joining the Charlton Athletic youth academy. The son of Nigerian parents, he grew up in the London area of Wandsworth, which is known, among other things, for the largest city prison in the capital of the United Kingdom. Of course, with such a pedigree, his upbringing was not ideal.

"That life in a deprived area always follows you. When I would come home from football, I knew there was no food on the table, so I would eat at a friend's house. I couldn't go to my mother's room and ask: 'Mom, why is there no food?' She was always working, cleaning jobs. The father was still working in Nigeria. When my mother was not there, my older sister would take care of me", Lookman remembered in the BBC documentary "South of the River".

South of the Thames of course. It doesn't really go without saying, but you know which parts it relates to. To those where immigrants from working families try to provide children with a better life. Ademola ended up affording it himself. Through football.

"Being left alone at home meant I would have more time to play football. My mother never scolded me. I saw that she was struggling, but she never showed it. I have never met someone with such a strong character. But those torments of hers awakened that extra fire in me, gave me fuel. That urge, that feeling that I could, it was love. I'm thankful for all those adversities. They made me who I am today".

As we said, Ademola Lookman did not grow up in the fancy academies where the most educated children attend, although Charlton helped him a lot in terms of education. Charlton was the first to notice him back in 2013. Their U16 selection had an empty space, so the club organized matches against teams that played in amateur leagues. The then-16-year-old Ademola played for Waterloo. He was a class above everyone else on the field.

People from Charlton Athletic couldn't believe what they were seeing. They immediately offered him a scholarship and Lookman received the aforementioned education - at St Thomas' School in Peckham. They say he was a very good student. Of course he was an even better footballer. In the new club, they did not want him to lose that natural sense of improvisation, they only taught him to direct it, to save the best for the last third of the field.

Ademola was also a very good student on the field. He quickly mastered all the lessons, and already in 2017, he moved to Everton for 8,500,000 euros, a clear signal that there is potential there, even though he reached the Premier League from the third tier of the competition. His journey has been compared by many to that of Dele Alli from MK Dons to Tottenham.

The difference between the two is that Alli shined immediately - but down spiraled faster - while Lookman took time to blossom. At Everton, he gave hints that he could grow into a great player, and although he ultimately did not do so at Goodison, he did enough for Leipzig to set aside 18,000,000 euros for him in 2019. Unlike some other players, the Bundesliga did not suit him. Then he was on loan in Fulham, and he finally got a chance, but there - the famous panenka attempt happened.

His performance struggles in the Premier League could all be summed up in one moment in 2020. It was a cold London evening and a small city derby at the Olympic Stadium between West Ham and Fulham. The Cottagers were on the verge of defeat, and then in the eighth minute of stoppage time, they got a chance for a draw. Standard penalty taker Aleksandar Mitrović gave the ball to the Nigerian. Instead of a sure goal, one of the more embarrassing moments in recent football history happened. It was an immature, childish, completely irrational move by the then-22-year-old Lookman.

Somehow something was always missing. His price slowly fell until the hardworking people of Atalanta in 2022 brought him in for less than 10,000,000.

"We had a man in Atalanta (Lee Congerton, now the head of the scouting service of Saudi Al Ahli), who worked in Leicester and who saw an opportunity to bring him. He believed he could be useful to us. But no one could have imagined that it would progress this far. In England, he was not very fruitful in the end. That's why I pushed him a little forward", recalled Atalanta's miracle worker Gasperini.

As usual: he guess right. Before coming to Bergamo, Lookman did not have a season with double-digit goals. Not in Charlton, not in Everton, not in Leipzig, Fulham or Leicester. And he was already 25 years old. In Italy - an explosion! 30 goals in two seasons, including this hat-trick against Bayer, who were undefeated until yesterday. All that and 16 assists.

"The club and the coach pushed me in terms of minutes. Already in the first conversation, the boss made me look at football a little differently. He made it easy for me in terms of what he expected from me. He made me a different player. I am very grateful to him... And Bergamo gives me a sense of calm. It's a relaxed city, that helped me with my lifestyle. I am focused on important things", Lookman himself commented.

At the time of the panenka, it was valid proof that Lookman's talent would fade from season to season instead of the opposite. The very next summer, he went to Leicester, spent a year there, and did not make a difference. Atalanta gave him a lifeline in August 2022. He accepted the opportunity even though English talent was not well received in the Apennines. Lookman began to defy that narrative. He blew everyone away last night in the Europa League final—especially Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen.

UEL: Look, man, what Lookman did to until-tonight Invincible Neverloosen!

Two quick goals in the 12th and 26th minutes, and then a rocket into Kovar's, launched him among the selected few, among the magnificent six who scored a hat-trick in the European cup finals. Because there is nothing more magnificent than bringing the cup to your team with such authority.

Since last night, alongside Alfredo di Stefano (Real Madrid 1960), Ferenc Puskas (Real Madrid 1960/4 goals), 1962), Pierino Prati (Milan 1969), and Jupp Heynckes (Monchengladbach 1975) - stands the name of a son of Nigerian parents.

Vicente Gulliot (Valencia 1962) and Luis Pujol (Barcelona 1966) are also worth mentioning, but the two scored three times each in the final of the Cup of Fair Cities, a competition under the auspices of FIFA. Hat-tricks in the finals were also scored by Liverpool's Terry McDermott in 1977 and Atletico Madrid's Radamel Falcao in 2012, but those were European Super Cups.