“MOLA”
(The Stubborn Football Journey Man)
The name on everyone's lips since yesterday night is “Ademola Lookman” and to many the journey to stardom started in southeast London, Peckham but that's not true.
This is another Naija “Japa Story” when Ademola Lookman's parents who were both Nigerians decided to leave the shores of Nigeria for greener pastures, and at this time, Lookman had two older sisters who were born in Nigeria as he was the only one born in Peckham, London.
Everyone has a story, let's tell Ademola Lookman’s Story.
#OdogwuTales
His father and one of his sisters were in Nigeria while he, one of his sisters, and his mum were in London.
His mum had to do all sorts of jobs, cleaning jobs, diner lady jobs, and anything she could get her hands on to put food on the table and clothes over Ademola and his sister but that wasn't even enough.
There were times when they didn't have food at home and Ademola would eat at his friend's place before coming home because he didn't want to ask his mother for food knowing how hard she was working.
“JUST TRY YOUR BEST, THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS”
Ademola’s parents wanted Ademola to have a professional career just like most African parents.
Ademola told his parents he wanted to be an accountant but deep down he knew he just wanted to play football professionally, but he still wrote and aced his GCSE scoring 5As, 4 Bs and 1 C.
His desire to become a footballer heightened when he lost a teammate, in the amateur football team he was playing at, Waterloo FC.
Josh was only 14. Josh came to training with a swollen knee and the following week, died of a blood clot, and the death of Josh brought the team together and they swore they would try their best to make it in football for him.
“FIND STRENGTH IN YOUR PAIN”
His mum was always looking for jobs and that made her always busy which meant his elder sister had to take care of him and this gave him the freedom to play football.
He wasn't spotted by any London club as a kid so he continued playing Sunday League football for Waterloo and in the streets and cages of South London that have produced the likes of Sancho, Loftus Cheek, and Odoi.
You have to be quick, brave, and skillful, operating in tight spaces, avoiding the unforgiving metal, not going to ground on harsh concrete, and relying on your wits and tricks to evade older players.
You can say, he was trained by the STREETS!!!
“EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON. IT’S ALL A LEARNING & PREPARATORY PROCESS”
At the age of 16, Lookman was selected to play for London Counties in a friendly game against Charlton’s Academy in 2013.
He started the game on the bench but someone got injured and he was brought on, even though his team lost 1-0, the officials at Charlton liked him and invited him back.
Charlton was surprised he had not been snapped up by any of the London Clubs and went ahead to offer him a scholarship and this shocked the mum as she thought Lookman would be going to college and because the offer was just out of the blue.
“GOD HAS A PLAN. TRUST IT, LIVE IT & ENJOY IT.”
He joined Charlton in 2015 progressing through their U18 and U21 teams and finally making his debut on 3 November 2015 and he continued to impress.
In 2017, Everton forked out a total deal package of £11M to sign Lookman from Charlton in the January transfer window for the 19-year-old on a 4-year deal.
He scored on his debut against Man City when he was brought on from the bench in added time but his Everton career didn't go as planned then manager, Sam Allardyce wanted him to go on loan to the Championship side but Lookman wanted to go to German side, Leipzig and the club allowed him.
“IN ORDER TO GROW, YOU NEED FAILURE, IT IS LIFE’S ULTIMATE LESSON.”
Ralph Rabgnick who was Leipzig's director of football had watched him play while he was at Charlton, so also wanted him at the club.
On his debut, coming on from the bench, he dribbled his way through Borrusia Monchengladbach's defense to score a late winner for Leipzig.
In the summer of 2019, Leipzig made his loan move a permanent deal but he didn't get enough playing time and this led to him going on another loan back to Fulham in the EPL.
“THAT WHICH DOES NOT KILL US MAKES US STRONGER.”
He played a season for Fulham where he scored 4 goals with his lowest point being a failed panenka penalty in the last minute against West Ham and his team went on to lose the match 1-0.
The next season, Leicester signed him on another season's loan, and he had a successful season scoring 6 goals in 26 games, this led to Atlanta spending €15M to sign him on a 4-year deal.
At the age of 24, he had already played for 6 different teams and was yet to cement a place.
“SUCCESS TAKES TIME. STAY FOCUSED & BE PATIENT.”
In his first season at Atlanta, he was voted Atlanta’s player of the season after scoring 15 goals in 33 games.
He also switched his national team allegiance from England to Nigeria after representing England in the U-17 and U-20 where he won the U-20 FIFA World Cup with the team.
He was one of our shining lights at the just concluded AFCON 2023 where he scored 3 goals but ended up losing the finals to the host country Ivory Coast.
ENGLAND’S BOY BECAME NIGERIA’S MAN!!!
“COME HOME!!!!”
4 months after losing the AFCON finals, he led Atalanta to the Coppa Italia and they lost to Juventus.
It looked like another certain defeat against a Bayer Leverkusen team that has not lost a single game the entire season but yesterday night, an Ademola Lookman’s hat trick that broke records gave his team, Atalanta their first European trophy.
ADEMOLA LOOKMAN’S LIFE IS WORTH A MOVIE!!!!
“IT ALWAYS LOOKS IMPOSSIBLE UNTIL IT IS DONE.”
You could see his family happy and hugging him emotionally but deep down they know what they've gone through to finally get to this stage.
I don't what you're going through in silence, just keep pushing and don't give up, when your success comes, it will be so loud and many will seek to hear your story.
DON’T EVER GIVE UP!!!!
Ademola Lookman telling his story, always sounds like a joke until you hear it from the horse's mouth.
I write inspirational pieces like this, if that's your type of content, hit the follow button and don't forget to retweet for others.
Do have a good evening 🙏🙏🙏
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.