Ademola Lookman: Leicester’s Loss, Atalanta’s Gain

With Leicester City rock bottom on the English Premier League table, Foxes Manager, Brendan Rodgers is already ruing not signing Nigerian forward Ademola Lookman as the player is riding high with Serie A side, Atalanta having contributed six goals so far this season while Leicester are finding goal scoring hard to come by

Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman continued his impressive form with Serie A side, Atalanta as he was yet on target last weekend in La Dea 2-2 draw at Udinese.

Atalanta were looking to beat Udinese and usurp Napoli at the top of the Serie A log when they traveled to the Dacia Arena and Atalanta coach Gian Pero Gasperini handed Lookman a starting shirt and the Super Eagles forward did not disappoint.

La Dea were the better side from the start, but it took them 36 minutes to break the deadlock. Luis Muriel played Lookman through on goal, and the Super Eagles forward showed great technique and smashed the ball into the roof of the net to give his side the lead.

The 24-year-old is proving to be one of the best signings of the season, as he has now scored two consecutive goals for Atalanta, in crucial games.

The former Leicester City loanee is continuing to impress in Italy after his loan move was not made permanent in the summer.

The winger spent last season at the King Power Stadium on a season-long loan from Red Bull Leipzig. In his one campaign at the club, Lookman played a total of 42 times, scoring eight goals and providing five assists. One of his goals was the winner in the memorable 1-0 victory over Liverpool at the King Power Stadium at the end of December.

City were said to be keen on making the deal permanent when the summer window came around. However, both the squad size and financial restrictions over the transfer window meant that a move never materialised

The 24-year-old has had a successful time in Italy, scoring three goals and providing a further three assists in his nine Serie A appearances so far. His latest goal came in the 2-2 draw with Udinese Calcio and was the winger’s second goal in as many games in the competition.

That goal prompted a reaction from City fans on social media, with one writing: “Not buying this lad is the single most baffling thing that’s happened at the KP for years.” A second just simply wrote: “Pain.

Speaking after City’s first game of the season back in August, Brendan Rodgers admitted that he was looking to have made Lookman’s loan deal permanent in the summer. “I would have loved to have signed Ademola who was great here last season and got over 10 goals and assists but we weren’t able to do that,” he said .

“Unfortunately, that means we then have to look at the squad and the team and try to adapt, and then put them out to be as best organised as they can be.”

After his goal last weekend, Lookman performed his signature glasses celebration but was then strangely booked by referee Daniele Doveri for his actions. The Nigerian international questioned the official’s decision but was pulled away by his teammates, making sure he wasn’t given any harsher punishment.

Lookman was utterly bemused and made clear to Doveri that this was his celebration rather than any sort of remark that could be perceived as offensive.

The former Leicester man has performed this pose with regularity and has never previously been punished for doing so. The decision to award a booking has been met with as much surprise among supporters.

“People get offended at anything these days,” one social media user wrote while another put: “Truly pathetic stuff from the referee here.”

Lookman’s yellow card did not affect the visitors too much, but it was the decision to book Lookman that ultimately overshadowed the match, with the winger taking to Instagram afterwards with the message: “A draw today but looking ahead to next game. Another goal,” accompanied by an image of him celebrating his opener.

Lookman has made a great start to his time at Atalanta, having plundered three goals and as many assists after just nine games played in Serie A and had previously performed the celebration on his league debut in a 2-0 win at Sampdoria and last time out in a 1-0 success over Fiorentina.