First-time winner Ademola Lookman took the African Footballer of the Year award to cap a great year at Atalanta in Serie A, as the Nigerian forward took home the honor ahead of some big names – Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, Ivory Coast’s Simon Adingra, and Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy – in Marrakech.
This victory now makes Lookman the seventh Nigerian winner of the prestigious accolade, a list already boosted by the likes of Nwankwo Kanu, Rashidi Yekini, and Victor Osimhen. He enjoyed a startling second season under Gian Piero Gasperini as he recorded 27 goal involvements-17 goals, 10 assists-in 45 appearances in all competitions.
A highlight of Lookman’s year was the Europa League final, in which he scored a historic hat-trick with Atalanta defeating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0, becoming only the second player ever to have scored a treble in a European final for an Italian club, emulating Milan’s Pierino Prati from 1969.
This season, Lookman has taken up from where he left off, chipping in with 12 goals in Serie A where Atalanta presently lead the table. His winner against Milan earlier this month helped the side set a new record of successive league wins.
His three goals on the continent took the Super Eagles to runners-up at the Africa Cup of Nations, and he took his place in the Team of the Tournament. On the global stage, he was Africa’s representative, the only African nominated for this year’s Ballon d’Or, which finally placed 14th in the final standings. Barbra Banda of Zambia was the first from her country to claim the accolade in the ladies category, holding off Morocco’s Sanaa Mssoudy and Nigerian Chiamaka Nnadozie.
