The coach of Italian Serie A side Atalanta Gian Piero Gasperini says he didn’t expect Ademola Lookman who scored a hattrick in their 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final to come this good, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Lookman struck in the 12th, 26th and 75th minutes of the game to hand his team the title bringing to an end the unbeaten record of the German side in all competitions this season. It also marked a remarkable turnaround for the Nigerian.
The 26 year old has had a nomadic career since his breakthrough at Charlton which earned him a move to Everton. Since then he has been to Leicester City, Fulham, Everton and RB Leipzig without achieving anything meaningful.
However since moving to Atalanta he has found his way up leaving the coach Gasperini in awe of his growth in such a short time at the club. The coach revealed how they signed him despite his poor return in England.
Gasperini said: “We had a senior manager at Atalanta [Lee Congerton] who had worked at Leicester, who saw the opportunity to bring him in and thought he was a possible useful player.
“Nobody could ever imagine he’d could make this much progress. He wasn’t overly prolific in England. I changed his position to a more attacking role.
“Tonight he achieved something which will remain in the annals of football history – a stunning hat-trick.”
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
