*Juric hails African Footballer of the year
Nigeria international and reigning African Footballer of the Year, Ademola Lookman, has admitted he is still battling to regain his top form for Atalanta, despite recently opening his goal account for the season in a 1–1 draw against AC Milan.
Lookman scored the equaliser after Milan took an early lead through Samuele Ricci, but the forward confessed he is yet to rediscover his sharpness both physically and in front of goal.
The encounter at the New Balance Arena in Bergamo was Lookman’s fifth Serie A appearance this season. Reflecting on his form and a failed summer move to Inter Milan, he said he has put the transfer saga behind him and is now fully focused on helping Atalanta achieve their objectives.
In an interview with DAZN Italia, Lookman emphasized his commitment to helping the team and expressed optimism about improving his performance in future games.
Read Also: Plumptre scores first Falcon’s goal as Nigeria seal WAFCON qualification
“It’s important to be available for the team, to help the team,” Lookman told DAZN Italia as per Football Italia. “I’ve not been able to find form yet, physically or in front of goal, but I’ll get there eventually and this was a step forward in the right direction. Hopefully in the coming games we’ll be able to get some wins.”
He further made it abundantly clear he does not want to talk about the past or what happened in recent months when pressed if scoring his first goal of the season had brought back his happiness with Atalanta.
“I think that when I’m on the pitch, the most important thing is to try to help the team win. We want to keep climbing up the table and that’s the most important thing, to win football games,” he noted
Meanwhile, Atalanta’s coach, Ivan Juric, praised Lookman, calling him a “spectacular player” while highlighting his determination to succeed.
Juric noted that their training approach aimed to enhance Lookman’s match fitness and that he expects more goals to come as the forward continues to perform well in training.
“I think we pushed him to play more than perhaps he should’ve done because we wanted him to achieve match fitness,” Juric equally told DAZN. “He is a special type of player — in training and on the pitch, he is a sight to behold. A winner with incredible determination, and I am very happy for him.
“We were only talking yesterday, and he said if he keeps training like this, the goal will come — and today, it did.”
As Atalanta aims to climb higher on the Serie A table, Lookman’s contributions will be crucial as he looks to regain his scoring touch.
