Ademola Lookman went from the cages of Peckham, to Premier League flop, to the toast of Europe: He completed his decade-long journey from lost soul to history boy

To borrow and twist the words of Frank Sinatra, if you can’t make it here, you can’t make it anywhere. Eleven Premier League goals in six years, three clubs and almost a hundred games, Ademola Lookman was a failure.

Everton have rarely been confident starting out, but paid £11m for the Charlton winger in 2017 and used him just seven times in the league from the start. He was, we decided, a flop who had failed to fulfill his teenage promise. After an equally unimpressive stay at RB Leipzig, he moved to Italy two years ago and with it to the relative obscurity of mid-table Atalanta.

Here in Dublin on Wednesday night, and still at the age of 26, Lookman became the first player since 1975 to score a hat-trick in a major European final, with his goals dismantling previously unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen.

He was so direct and devastating that you wondered whether England’s Under-20 World Cup winner could make a bid for the European Championship. Sadly, he declared before Nigeria two years ago, a fact he forgot as he lost relevance.

But as he held his match ball in his hand at the Aviva Stadium and spoke with intelligence and charm, it was hard not to wonder whether Everton simply isn’t the right environment for some players to thrive. Even less so under Sam Allardyce, whose favorite wideman was Henrik Pedersen.

He was unplayable as he helped his side overcome previously undefeated Bayer Leverkusen

Lookman has enjoyed a fascinating journey from the cages of Peckham to European glory

Sources on Merseyside say it was the wrong place at the wrong time and Lookman struggled to settle in as a young man in a new environment away from London. There was also a row with Under-23 boss David Unsworth. Lookman seemed like a ‘lost soul’ around the club and effectively told Allardyce that his style of football did not suit him. The lost soul lost three years in an important stage of development.

What followed wasn’t much better – the move to Leipzig and loans to Fulham and Leicester – and it’s fair to say he’s only felt at home at two clubs, his first and his current one. He has now scored thirty goals for Atalanta in two seasons.

But it should be noted that Wandsworth-born Lookman was late to the professional game. The story goes that the unsigned 16-year-old played a game for London Counties at Charlton’s academy and, so good was he, they wouldn’t let him leave the building.

Jason Pearce played with Lookman at Charlton and is now their under-18s coach. He told Mail Sport: ‘He was on the bench and came on and scored four goals and the club said, “Wow, who is this kid?”, and they immediately wanted to sign him, and they made it happen.

‘As soon as I saw him training, I realized he was one of the best natural talents I had ever encountered. He could play with both feet, he could change direction so quickly, had a natural ability to beat people, but was also such a sweet young boy. A nice, sincere, modest boy. I just wanted him to do well and I think everyone did.”

Lookman initially made his breakthrough at Charlton, before they sold him to Everton for £11 million at the age of 19

However, he struggled at Everton, with Lookman seemingly labeled a Premier League flop

It has taken almost a decade for him to show the top talent they predicted, and his goals were repeated again and again at Charlton’s academy on Thursday.

“It gets all the guys talking,” Pearce said. “Players they have seen come through, like Ademola, scored a hat-trick in the final. It’s fantastic for the football club as it gives our young lads that little bit of inspiration.”

That Lookman went unnoticed while playing Sunday league football – on potholed and leaf-covered parks but still sniffed around by scouts – suggests the late development could be a recurring theme. Perhaps the best is yet to come. He certainly thinks so.

“I’m happy with the progress I’ve made, but this is just the beginning,” he told the Aviva.

Felix Emanus, his former national coach on Sunday, was also at the Europa League final.

“I cried when the third goal came,” he said. ‘I’m so happy for Ade. He works so hard, a quiet boy. Sometimes he is misunderstood for his calmness, but he is a great kid. He wants to learn, always wants to get better and wants to reach the top.’

So this could only be halfway through.

“Nobody could have ever imagined that he could make so much progress,” said Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini.

But what did they do to him in Bergamo?

Lookman has transformed at Atalanta and has become the top-level talent that was predicted

The winger has gone from being a failure in the Premier League to being the best player in a major European final

“The first few conversations we had made me look at football a little differently,” Gasperini’s Lookman said.

“It made it easier for me in terms of what he expected of me. The city of Bergamo gives me a feeling of calm. It is a very quiet, relaxed city and that has helped me enormously with my lifestyle. I concentrate on the important things.’

Lookman has previously spoken about spatial awareness and, sticking to the idea of ​​simplifying things, being in the right place at the right time.

His first goal against Leverkusen saw him in the blind spot of a defender, who couldn’t believe his eyes when Lookman appeared on his shoulder to score.

He found space for his second in a busy part of the field. For his third, he isolated himself one-on-one against a slower opponent. It was amazing to witness.

So from a failure in the Premier League to the best player in a major European final. It’s been an unconventional journey, but Lookman is doing it his way, again to borrow loosely from Sinatra.