Celtic’s manager, Brendan Rodgers, beams with pride as he watches Ademola Lookman’s spectacular performance for Atalanta in the Europa League final. The Nigerian talent showcased his prowess with a remarkable hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen in Dublin on Wednesday evening.
Lookman and Rodgers share a history, having collaborated during their time at Leicester City. Lookman, on loan from Leicester City during the 2021/22 season, left an indelible mark, scoring eight goals in 42 appearances.
Rodgers expressed admiration for Lookman’s dedication and work ethic, noting his commitment to self-improvement both on and off the field. “What a professional he is, how he looks after himself, and the extra work he does in training,” Rodgers remarked to talkSPORT. “Those goals that he scored, he practices those after training. He’d always do extra finishing.”
Despite Leicester City having the option to purchase Ademola Lookman for $14 million at the end of his loan spell, circumstances prevented the move. Rodgers reminisced, “But if you think back to that summer, we couldn’t sign any players, and then one of my guys that I worked closely with here at Celtic and at Leicester was a guy called Lee Congerton, and Lee was by then the general manager of Atalanta. When he knew that we weren’t able to take him, he took him then out to Atalanta, and he’s done absolutely brilliantly there.”
Lookman’s journey stands as a testament to talent, hard work, and the unpredictable twists of fate in the world of football.
