FIFA on Thursday approved Ademola Lookman’s switch from England to Nigeria.
Lukman was not able to play for the Super Eagles at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, because he was yet to get clearance from the world football governing body.
The Leicester City winger in the past represented England at U-19, U-20 and U-21 levels.
However, in October, Lukman applied to switch his allegiance to the West African country, where his parents come from.
This is why ex-Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, initially included the 24-year-old in his provisional list for the AFCON.
Lukman will now be eligible to play in the 2022 World Cup playoff against Ghana in March.
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COMMENTS
Yesssssssssssss! Bring on Ghana.
Welcome Home!
Yesssssssssssss! Bring on Ghana. Lookman to the right, Simonto the left. Dem go collect
_Will Lookman Add Value To Nigeria?_
It is reported above that Leicester City dashing forward Ademola Lookman has finally concluded his nationality switch to Nigeria.
After winning the Under-20 Fifa World Cup with England in 2017 (where he scored 3 goals), Nigeria came calling in 2018 for Lookman to replicate his sterling qualities for the Super Eagles in senior level football. After initially rebuffing the advances of the Nigeria Football Federation, Lookman acquiesced.
But the nationality switch process was protracted for over 2 years with rumours leaking through that perhaps Lookman had made an about-face on Nigeria.
However, it now looks certain that the nationality switch process has concluded and Lookman would indeed be available for selection in Nigeria’s all-important world cup qualifiers against Ghana in March.
This news will delight very many Super Eagles fans who have waited eagerly for many months for this switch to materialise. Having said that, one needs to ask the question: what value does Ademola Lookman bring to the Super Eagles?
With Coach Eguavoen’s emphasis on wing play, Lookman should slot in seamlessly into the Super Eagles style of play. His dribbling abilities are legitimate and compelling and his runs are direct, purposeful and piercing. His capacity to score breath-taking goals is a source of excitement.
With Chukwueze’s temporary dwindling form and Ejuke yet to fire on all cylinders for Nigeria, Lookman could offer a viable option to the Super Eagles in the right wing. Also, the homuncular winger can moonlight as a support striker; the prospect of a Lookman – Osimhen combo is tantalising indeed.
However, critics have pointed to the fact that Lookman is not always prolific in front of goal. Last season, he only managed 4 goals in 35 games for Leicester. He has improved this season though with 5 goals in 22 games in England.
Other critics have pointed out that Lookman goes missing in games. He tends to attempt take ons when releasing the ball early could serve his team better. He is not known for tracking back (something not in harmony with Eguavoen’s mass defence strategy) and can be dispossessed of the ball whilst attempting dribbling manoeuvres.
Having said all that, Lookman’s strength far outweighs his shortcomings. He will definitely be an asset to the Super Eagles due to his hunger and willingness to win trophies. Lookman is ambitious and focused.
His pace, speed, shooting range, passing abilities and vision are expected to cause no shortage of headaches for Super Eagles’ opponents.
Snatching Lookman from England is a major coup for Nigeria as the 24 year old winger has the capacity to improve further in seasons to come.
Kabo shey dada le de, atin reti re o, kabo shey dada le de…..me singing in yoruba. Welcome Bro!
This is a pretty good news. We need a good goal keeper though.
Its about damn time..now let us hope Eguavoen and co select the lad.
Them no born Eguavoen well make e no select am.
@Oralivato, you no go kill man with laugh. Hahaha
“This is why ex-Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, initially included the 24-year-old in his provisional list for the AFCON”.
Eyah! All GENERAL ROAR fights and struggle is finally coming to past..God bless him where he is. Amen!!
Hahahah Chai, @MONKEY POST you too like Gernot Rohr, anyway nottin do you sha. Make we just dey enjoy the acquisition of a baller. Ademola Lookman Onye ball.
MONKEY POST. you and dis your Rohr matter lol!!
I would like to appreciate the efforts of the Sport Ministry and the NFF for seeing the deal through, now Lookman is in and a welcome welcome addition. Certainly his inclusion would affect the composition of the team. Good luck Lookman
Fine boy no pimples, Cerezo seems to have the magic wand. God bless Nigerians.
Yassssssss. So,so confident now about doing so well in Qatar! By December after the World Cup, Nigeria will be number one ranked team in Africa, and anything between 5th and 10th in the world. Chukwueze and Ejuke better sit up now.
Na wah ooo all this rejoicing because of lookman? You guys shd free the guy pls. Lookman is not Messi,CR7,lewandosky,Benz, not even suares, why all this hype of winning the WC bcos of look on though?
Na to dey look o! You go think say Nigeria dom sign Eden Hazard. Lolzzzz Lookman na average striker sef. He good like that England no come grab am. Lolzzzz
This one na proper baller. Very skillful and technically gifted footballer. He makes difficult things look routine.
Coach Eguaveon de ‘Egudiola’, na you biko lol.
Finally, Coach Egu, please try and watch our local keepers this week, I’m sure you’ll discover a better keeper than the baskets we currently have.
Guys! congratulations, to everyone finally ademola lookman is ours i am happy welcome home brother looking forward to see you wearing the green and white.
Nigeria don’t lack strikers. We lack creative midfielders like jay jay.
So so excited a welcome development i will now watch him as a Nigerian. He will improve this team no doubt about that. Our attack is fully loaded with wonderful players. Welcome to the fold boy!
Lookman can be the missing #10 aterall.
Or we can play him 8n the right wing and Simon Moses at the left.
Denis can be a supporting striker to Osimen.
Ndidi and Etebo at the center.
Aina, Sanusi, Ekong and Balogun at the back.
Uzoho in the post.
4-3-3 or 3-5-2 in Accra.
Secure a win in Accra or goal draw.
Then come to Abuja and start with 4-4-2, then with 2 goals up, change to 3-5-2 or 4-5-1, then see off the game.
Congratulations Lookman!!!!
Congratulations the SE.
Personally I think 3-5-2 formation is the way to go for Nigeria. However, I will keep sounding this out to Eguavoen and his time, Nigeria needs a minimum of 3 midfielders: 1 DM with a deep playing CM (similar to Rohr’s Etebo-Ndidi Combo or Keshi’s Onazi-Mikel Combo). Perhaps the most important factor that led to Nigeria’s loss against Tunisia was just having 1 DM in Ndidi with Aribo too further up the pitch to make it always make up the grounds in time to offer defensive cover.
Then they will need a marauding attacking midfielder, a role played admirably by Iwobi between 2020 and 2021 for Nigeria. In recent times, Iwobi’s effectiveness in that role has badly weakened. Against Egypt, Aribo delivered a coup-de-maitre performance in that role.
I don’t know what tweaks Eguavoen will make to his formation going forward but my advice to him is not to leave the midfield wafer thin.
I could suggest a 4-4-2 formation that looks like this:
Nwabili
Aina – Ekong – Balogun – Collins
Ndidi – Onyeka (almost side by side but Onyeka can foray slightly forward but never too far away to support Ndidi when needed. Ndidi never goes forward and should be careful with his tackles)
Lookman – Simon (wingers who drop back to perform defensive duties)
Iheanacho (will perform a dual role of attacking midfielder and support striker. He will have to be very mobile to cover grounds and he will definitely be substuted for Awoniyi or Olayinka early in the second half due to tiredness)
Osimhen (who will be the arrow down the middle and across the channels).
I think this set up will compensate for what Eguavoen is trying to achieve.
You see the excitement this is causing our people CSN.. na dis kin news wey we want hear abeg now operation Olise he is the missing link. Freekick specialist. Jay Jay successor. Imagine parading V09, Ademola Lookam, Emmnuel Dennis, victor Moses, with Moses Simon and Samuel Chukweze and co. Oya Ghana were una dey lool!!!!..
Olise will be a nice cherry on top. Time still dey.
Wow! this is very good news! Lookman is a confirmed baller, it is surreal that we finally have him. One thing about this player is that he can shoot and has ball sense. Definitely, Ghana has a lot more to worry about. It is all coming together. Only if we could get M.olise, now that will be a scary team for any opposition.
Next up is Ejaria, let’s go!
FIFA has really done us a real favor.
This one na automated ammunition, I’m hoping Cerezo’s team is well equipped with latest knowledge on how to unleash it on opponents. No more invitation to outdated players.
Thanks to all those who made this possible.
Olise, you are next!!
Is olise still eager to play for us.
I hope cerezo use looman the position he used iheanacho and osimen instead of awoniyi all other players should maintain their position then we play catch me if u can football Ghana go tire
Kudos to Amaju Pinick led NFF for this successful switch. Pls more of them to increase our pool of talented footballers all across the globe.
Get us Michael Olise (this guy is a gallant Midfield maestro), Amoo, Ejaria, Emma Dennis, Adeleye(plus other quality Goalkeepers in similitude with Gabasky, Mendy, Enyeama; not one shot, one goal keepers o) and Victor Moses.
Cheers!
I heard he prefers to play for Algeria….what a mistake from a young man!
NFF should do more and get more players because world cup is not anybody mate unless Nigeria want to go to world cup to taste tactics. France under21 full for Senegal team and ivory Coast. We need rugged defenders. Tireless Midfielders. Nigeria need to go far for this upcoming world cup because Cameron and Senegal, Ghana have gone far in world Cup more than Nigeria. We need to break that record
Have we qualified?
NFF finally gets it right.
All have been wondering why it’s taking so long to confirm the switch of these players.
Kudos to NFF ONIGBESE on this one. We need more positives like this.
Next, Ejaria’s switch.
Olise does not appear keen on Nigeria (for now). However, NFF can make moves to convince the lad to join us.
The biggest priority we have at the moment is obtaining reliable goalies. Even if Messi and CR7 switch nationality to Nigeria, we will not achieve anything without reliable hands between the sticks.
Perhaps Okoye and co. need additional psychological help? A better goalkeeper trainer? More competition? Whatever the case may be, we need at least 2 reliable goalkeepers before our first game against Ghana.
NFF, keep up the good work.
What a lie, why are they just confirming it now? Someone rohr included in his provisional list. The stupid amaju nff should say something else, after their fail Afcon experience. When we tell them to always invite our best legs, they think we are against them. Stupid lots.
2William. they are so stupid. If Amoo Akin (19) is from Warri, more if he is from Hussey College, Warri. Or Benin City, where this writer came from, he would have been invited by now. No one to push his Golden Name. He is a born football star, and no one is saying so because he is from Lagos. Nigerians, please join me to make sure this young Lion is brought out to showcase his amazing skills to the World at large. No way we can beat Ghana with Okoye basket in goal. Uzoho or Adeleye is our best way forward.
Watch how they will go and invite Kelechi Nwakali ahead of Amoo. As at now Kelechi is not even playing for his club due to disciplinary issues.
Some people will just use their attitude to spoil the fun. If ademola is not messi but at least he is a good addition. Why spoil the fun. Ademola is good. A food addition. It calls for celebration.
On goalkeepers, I sincerely think we have not really given uzoho all the chances he needed. He has not really disappointed anytime he is called upon. His confidence level is far better than okoye..
Okoye needs time to gain confidence.
The injury to uzoho compounded his problem when he lost his first place in the team.
Omo Ghana is in trouble against Nigeria. Them go hear ham. Hahahahahahahahaha!
All these developements just shows that the timing of Eguavoen talking about adding NPFL players to the set up is wrong he needs to take the core that went to AFCON and make a few additions while dropping some dead weights another strategy is a backward thinking on the eve of a big double deader game with a STrong i repeat Strong Ghana side Let us not be deciving ourselves Ghana is strong and we should approach the game as a final of finals if we want to make the World Cup.
Add Victor Osimhen, Victor Moses, Emma Dennis, Ademola Lookman and Calvin Bassey as well as Leon Balogun. Then Drop the dead weights headed up by Ahmed Musa, Umar Sadiq, Olayinka, Olisa Ndah and Jamilu Collins. Abdullahi Shehu must also not be recalled. I really hope Eguavoen can do this Cyril Dessers at the moment has gone cold.
Maduka Okoye just leaked 4 goals the other day the boy is proving a liability
Ugo uwunze I disagree with you on Sadiq umar I think awoniyi should be dropped from the super eagle squad he is far better than awoniyi,
Yeah, it is nice to hear abt Lookman’s switch. He sure is going to help d Nigeria Super Eagles attack.
Bt pls, Nigerians nd especially our coaches must not forget that we need an urgent checkup in d midfield or atleast to bring in one or two good attacking midfielders for the upcoming world cup playoffs against Ghana. Our emphasis l suggest,must shift towards achieving that. In that case, am recommending Nwobodo lfeanyi and Kingsley Sokari for now or any hugely talented midfielder even from our domestic leagues including d lower divisions or elsewhere. And, l must add that d nff nd our foreign scouts should start making d underground moves to lure Carney Chukwuemeka of Aston Villa(bt that must be a smooth nd silent move to avoid d attention of d English FA nd their public nd if we really intend to achieve anything from that). Ebere Eze whom l also see see as a good player seem to be playing games with Nigeria bt let’s hope he has a rethink soon. Thank God Ovie Ejaria’s papers are still on d process of gaining final approval from FIFA.
Welcome back home the baller, LOOKMAN ADEMOLA.
Thank u all.