Ademola Lookman is optimistic about his chances of catching and surpassing his compatriot Victor Osimhen in the race for the Serie A top scorer award this season, according to reports from Saturday. Lookman currently stands as the second highest scorer in Serie A, having scored 11 goals in 18 games. This places him just behind his Nigerian teammate Osimhen, who has netted 13 goals for league leaders Napoli. When asked about his prospects of finishing ahead of Osimhen, the 25-year-old responded with a laugh, “No, not when he’s above you, anyway. I will catch him (Osimhen). Not I might, I will.”
The Nigerian international also shared insights about his time at Leicester City, where he expressed a clear desire for a permanent move. However, financial constraints at the club made this difficult, as they needed to sell players before making new acquisitions and were not receiving offers for their existing squad. This situation ultimately left Lookman to determine his own future. “I had a few offers in England and I was thinking, ‘What do I really need next season?’” he explained. “I sat down with my family, and with Atalanta coming in, we just made up our minds that this was another stage in the journey that we needed to go through because we felt it was important to add another layer to my development.”
Lookman’s initial discussions with Atalanta convinced him that joining the club was the right decision. “Everything was about attacking football,” he noted. “Some of their results last season were incredible, winning 6-5 or 5-4. That in itself told me it’s attacking football, which is what you want to play for. So that was a plus. Additionally, the manager, Gian Piero Gasperini, is an intelligent individual. What he has accomplished at the club is remarkable, particularly in taking the team into the Champions League. His vision for football is something I haven’t seen before.”
Gasperini has been at Atalanta since 2016, a notable achievement in Serie A’s often tumultuous managerial landscape. Lookman praises the 64-year-old for allowing him the freedom to express himself on the pitch while still adhering to the team’s structure. “That’s still within the structure of the team,” he clarified. “Everything is factored into how the team plays and how I can contribute. One of the first conversations I had with him was about how I could impose my qualities on the team to help them improve. When he presented it that way, it resonated with me in a way that it hadn’t before.”
Lookman refers to Gasperini, or ‘Mister’ as he calls him, as the strictest manager he has ever had. “He’s a very hard man, and it was a new way of learning for me. I started to think about the game differently and understood what he expected from me.” He emphasized that the best players know their responsibilities, regardless of whether they have a strict manager. “Executing” is a key term for Lookman, who believes that decisiveness is crucial to success. “That decisiveness is something I’m keying into and learning,” he added.
Throughout our conversation, the themes of “executing” and “mindset” emerged repeatedly. When asked why he feels things have come together positively for him on the pitch in Italy, Lookman first commended the club for providing him with “the platform, the minutes.” He also expressed a sense that everything in his life, both on and off the pitch, is finally aligning. “Since I first came into professional football, it’s been up and down. Now, for the first time in my career, everything I’m doing is coming together. Whether it’s work away from training or whatever I have planned for myself, it’s all piecing together and working for me.”
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