Ex-Leicester star Ademola Lookman wrote himself into history on Wednesday night – but Brendan Rodgers already knew his quality all too well.
Starring for Atalanta, Lookman bagged a hat-trick to end Bayer Leverkusen‘s 51-match unbeaten streak and win the Europa League, the first hat-trick in a one‑legged European final since Pierino Prati in 1969 for AC Milan.
It also saw Atalanta lift their first piece of silverware in 61 years, beating Liverpool, Marseille and Sporting en route to glory in Dublin, but all the attention will go Lookman’s way after his incredible performance.
Having come up through the Charlton academy, it has been a long journey for the 26-year-old to get where he is now including stints at Everton, RB Leipzig and Fulham, but Celtic boss Rodgers remembers coaching him at Leicester.
Speaking to Alan Brazil and Gabriel Agbonlahor on talkSPORT Breakfast, Rodgers looked back at the 2021/22 season at Leicester when he signed the forward on loan from RB Leipzig but did not land him on a permanent deal.
He told talkSPORT: “The only sad part for us [at Leicester] was that, at the end of that season, we could have bought him for £14million but you think back to that summer, we couldn’t sign any players.
“One of my guys who I worked closely with at Celtic and Leicester is a guy called Lee Congerton and by then Lee was the general manager of Atalanta.
“When he knew that we weren’t able to take him, he took him then to Atalanta and he has done absolutely brilliant there so I am so happy, the goals he scored! Especially the second and third ones.
“He scored some massive goals for me at Leicester, he scored the winning goal in a game against Liverpool at home, it was a brilliant individual goal.
“But I am so, so pleased for him because he has travelled the world to be the best player that he can be and I am so happy he has flourished his talents on such a big occasion.”
Lookman has been a huge hit since signing for Atalanta in the summer of 2022 and he has scored 30 times in 75 appearances across two seasons – including his legend-forging hat-trick in the Europa League final on Wednesday.
While at Leicester, the Nigeria international scored eight times in 42 appearances but the failure to make his loan permanent was partly down to FFP concerns at the King Power Stadium.
It contributed to a horrific season for Rodgers, who was sacked midway through the campaign as the Foxes suffered relegation to the Championship.
Rodgers added: “I was so, so happy for him watching the game last night. I go back to my first night here at Celtic, I met Ade when he knew he was going to leave Charlton.
“We had looked to get him up here at the time but it was so early in the window that by the time the window finished, we couldn’t afford him.
“The money was too much and he ended up going to Everton. We always kept in contact so when I was at Leicester and he was at Red Bull [Leipzig], we had the chance to take him on loan.
“So I took him in and he was absolutely brilliant. What a professional he is, the way he looks after himself, the extra work he does in training.
“Those goals that he scored, he practices those after training, he would always do extra training. His professionalism was unbelievable.”