“Playing for Nigeria changed my career” – Ademola Lookman credits Super Eagles for career growth

Super Eagles and Atalanta forward, Ademola Olajade Lookman, has revealed his decision to don the green and white colours of Nigeria has yielded positive fruit in his international career, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 27-year-old was born in England, and represented the Three Lions youth team several times, and even won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2017, alongside Tottenham Hotspur’s Dominic Solanke and Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

After several unsuccessful spells in England and Germany, a call-up to the Three Lions team wasn’t on the cards for the former Everton man, and he opted to switch international allegiance to Nigeria. In the same year, he moved to Atalanta, and it’s only been way up since then.

He’s achieved success for club and country in the past eighteen months, and mentioned his decision to play for the Super Eagles played a massive role in his uprising.

“It was massive. It was massive for me because that was really the big turning point in my career. I think ever since I put on the Super Eagles jersey, it’s been fruitful you know, and we’ve been able to achieve a lot as a team and we’re still going as a team, but the camaraderie of the team is something that’s very special within the squad.

I think we shared that in the last AFCON, and we got to the final, but unfortunately we came up a bit short, but the foundations are there you know, and it’s just a fantastic feeling to sit there with pride to represent my country,” the ex-RB Leipzig forward said in an interview with Sporty TV.

Ademola Lookman and William Troost-Ekong were the only Nigerians nominated for the 2024 CAF Player of the Year award, but the UEFA Europa League winner was the only Super Eagles star that made the final-five cut.