Ballon d’Or Nominee Ademola Lookman Speaks After Helping Atalanta Beat Fiorentina

• Ademola Lookman played his first Serie A game of the season for Atalanta on Sunday after being away due to interest from PSG
• Lookman scored the winner and assisted as the club edged out Fiorentina 3-2 in a five-goal thriller
• The 2024 Ballon d'Or nominee has spoken after helping the team on his highly anticipated return to action

Ballon d'Or nominee Ademola Lookman has expressed delight at his performance after helping Atalanta win a 3-2 win over Fiorentina in his first league match.

Lookman assisted Mario Retegui for the equalising goal after Fiorentina took an early lead before scoring the winner in the additional minutes of the first half.

The Nigerian missed the first two matches of the season against Lecce and Torino after interest from Paris Saint-Germain and was an unused substitute in that 4-0 loss to champions Inter Milan.

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PSG’s interest cooled despite reports of an agreement on personal terms, even after the long-term injury to Portuguese forward Goncalo Ramos, the move failed to materialise.

Lookman speaks after Atalanta win

Lookman carried his international break form, where he started for Nigeria against Benin Republic and Rwanda, into his first game of the season with a goal and assist.

As quoted by Tutto Mercato, the Super Eagles star spoke to DAZN Italia, expressing his joy at returning to action and urging his teammates to keep going.

“I'm happy to be back, we're enjoying it. This year we have a strong team, I'm happy to be back in front of these beautiful fans,” he said.

“Champions League? We deserved it, we should play with the same mentality as today and we'll see how it goes,”

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He also shared a message on his Instagram page with three photos, including the one he took with his Man of the Match award and captioned it, “great to be back.”

Lookman’s brilliant season with the Bergamo-based club was rewarded with a Ballon d'Or nomination, and he is also the favourite to succeed compatriot Victor Osimhen as the African Footballer of the Year.

Lookman reacts to Ballon d'Or nomination

Briefly News reported Lookman's reaction to Ballon'dOr nomination after he was named in the 30-man shortlist for football’s most coveted individual award.

The Atalanta forward became the eighth Nigerian footballer to feature on the list. His most impressive highlight in the year was a hat trick in the Europa League final.

Source: Legit.ng