Ademola Lookman has emerged as the clear favorite to win the CAF Men’s Player of the Year award for 2024.
Another international break has come and gone and the Nigerian attacker appears to be just icing the cake on what has been a phenomenon journey to becoming the outright favorite to claim the prestigious CAF Men’s Player of the year award later in the year.
In his quest to win the award, the former England youth player has not been hiding under any umbrella of favourism. His chances have been down to his own individual performances, which has been very consistent for more than a calender year till now. He has been miles ahead of any potential rival for the award.
The 26-year-old scored a brace in the win over Benin and scored a goal which was awkwardly disallowed by Moroccan referee Karim Sabry as the Super Eagles were forced to a goalless draw by Rwanda in Kigali.
Ademola Lookman has enjoyed so much joy on the job since the start of last season and in the company of Hassan Afolabi, we take look at the narrative, numbers and acknowledgements behind the force driving the one-time Premier League flop to a shining star for Africa, in Africa and in Europe.
Ademola Lookman : Clear favourite for CAF Men’s Player of the Year
Ademola Lookman did not have a start to cherish on his footballing journey. Despite becoming a star at Charlton Athletic, from whose Academy he hailed, his move to Everton for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2017 stalled his progress.
Although his talent was never a doubt, however, finding a place to call his home was real trouble a few years back. After less than six months in Merseyside, where he would later be branded Premier League flop after an unsuccessful spell, Ademola Lookman was on the flight headed for Leipzig to sign for the Bundesliga side on loan.
He would later sign for the club in a permanent transfer, return to England with Fulham and the Leicester City before finally getting the move to Atalanta in Italy. He signed a four-year contract after completing a €15 million move.
Turns out the attacker was always destined for greater things, beyond the station of those he can now regard as stepping stones towards the greater, brighter future he now lives in.
Fortunately for Atalanta, who had struggled to maintain relevance following their rise to stardom during the Covid-19 year, the signing of Ademola Lookman came at the right time. He slot in seamlessly into the set-up, amassing 15 goals and six assists in 33 games in his first season.
The former Fulham man played a vital role in their fifth place league finish, which ensured their UEFA Europa League qualification. His 15 goals made him their top scorer both in the Serie A and across all competitions. That convinced Gian Piero Gasperini to trust him more.
Last season, he enjoyed the best season of his career so far, racking up 17 goals and nine assists across all competitions for Atalanta. Ademola Lookman reached double figures for league goals and five times in the Europa League, including a hat-trick to win the title in the final.
That hat-trick saw him become only the six player to achieve the feat in a major UEFA club final, and the first in the UEFA Europa League since Jupp Heynckes in 1975. No African had ever done that in history. That was unarguably the highlight of his season. However, before that, he had enjoyed a terrific outing with Nigeria’s Super Eagles in the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations.
Strengthened his Chances with an Astonishing AFCON Outing
Although not really the country’s showman ahead of the most prestigious continental competition in Africa, Ademola Lookman headed into his first major tournament with Nigeria as a player showing a lot of prospects since his international bow in March 2022.
The Baloon D’or nominee rejected a chance to represent Nigeria on multiple occasions, while he held on to the choice of representing England, whom he represented at youth level. “I’ve not changed my mind on wanting to represent England”, he once said while distancing himself from reports linking him with Super Eagles.
He eventually made his debut for Nigeria in a goalless draw with Ghana in the third round of the African World Cup qualifier in March 2022. Ademola scored his first international goal in a 10-0 away win over Sao Tome and Principe later in June, on what was his second start for Nigeria.
In the African Cup of Nations, Ademola Lookman scored three goals and one assist in the course of taking Nigeria to the final. His only assist helped secured a 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea in their opening game.
He scored a brace in the round of 16 as Nigeria defeated Indomitable Lions of Cameroon 2-0 to secure their place in the last eight. Ademola Lookman continued to impress in the quarter final by scoring the only goal as the Super Eagles progressed past Angola.
He was one of the best players our there in AFCON 2023. Excluding penalties and own goals, Ademola Lookman was directly involved in 80 percent of Nigeria goals. His four goal contributions is only bettered by two players, Emilio Nsue and Dala Gelson, both who finished with five apiece.
Hae has continued to impress for Nigeria even after the tournament, scoring three more goals, including a brace against Benin in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers, played in the just concluded international break, and a sensational winner in the 2-1 success against Ghana earlier in March.
With his goal and assist performance on his first Serie A appearance of the season during the weekend, Ademola Lookman takes his goal contributions since the start of last season to 37, number to rival even Mohamed Salah, who is one of the most productive attacker in the world today.
Good for the chances of Lookman to claim the CAF Best Player award, Mohamed Salah is not in the discussion due to a poor collective year for both club and country. Egypt’s group exit in the AFCON earlier in the year ruined any chance the Liverpool man has to compete in the award.
Baloon D’or Nomination a Seal on the Deal
Ademola Lookman has played his way to becoming the outright favorite for the CAF Best Player award. His Player of the match display in the 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final put to bed any doubt, as that was the point where he beat off any competition from a possible challenger, Victor Okoh Boniface.
While Africa also had other impressive players like Serhou Guirassy and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, none has been close to the achievement and consistency of Ademola Lookman, who has also been recognized with a nomination for the 2024 Baloon D’or award. The only African to receive nomination this year.
Lookman was also named Atalanta’s Player of the season for both 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. He featured in both the AFCON and UEFA Europa teams of the tournament due to his worthwhile contributions. No player from Africa has been close to him so far and given the stakes before the award is given out, no one will. The Baloon D’or nomination is a seal on his pending status as CAF Men’s Player of the Year.
It will not be a surprise to see him pick-up the award he much deserves during the gala later in the year. As much as Africans have and continue to represent the continent well in top leagues across the globe, the favourite for this year’s CAF Best Player award has appeared but one man. So has been the brilliant of Ademola Lookman so far.
Should he be crowned, Nigerians will have seven of the title, moving ahead of Ghana and Ivory Coast to outright second, while they will be four behind Cameroon, who has won eleven of the CAF Men’s Player of the Year award.
In addition, Ademola will also become the sixth Nigerian to win the award, joining Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amunike, Victor Ikpeba, Kanu Nwankwo (twice) and Victor Osimhen, who is the current holder of the award.
Victor Osimhen has also voiced his support for his countryman. Speaking in an interview after the win over Benin, the Galatasaray man said;
“I’m really happy to see Ademola in this position because I know some of his personal stories, and from a football perspective, he deserves all the good things coming his way. He’s a great guy”.
“He’s passionate, and he works diligently. I’m truly happy for him, and without a doubt, he’s going to win the African Player of the Year—100 per cent. I’ve already told him he’s bringing it home, and he deserves it for everything he’s done for us. It’s a win for Nigeria because he’s represented us so well. He’s carried the team, and this is his moment. I pray to God he wins it.” Osimhen concluded.
Lookman has hit the ground running for the season and will hope to continue playing at the top of his game till his inevitable coronation at the CAF Awards gala later in 2024.
