Former Leicester Coach, Brendan Rodgers, has heaped praise on Super Eagles and Atalanta forward, Ademola Lookman, for his incredible work ethic, Soccernet.ng reports.
Lookman joined the Foxes at the start of the 2021/2022 season, having a hand in thirteen goals from 42 games for Brendan Rodgers Leicester City.
In a conversation with TalkSPORT, Rodgers, who recently won a domestic double with Celtic in Scotland, revealed he was keen on keeping Lookman at the King Power Stadium, but for the club’s financial situation at the time.
“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 the 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 brilliantly there so I am so happy,” the former Leicester Manager said in an interview with TalkSPORT.
Echoing Stuart Gray’s and Felix Emanus’ thoughts, Brendan Rodgers commended the insane work rate of the former Fulham man, praising his affinity and ability to perform on the big stage.
“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. I am 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. What a professional he is, the way he looks after himself, the extra work he does in training. Those goals that he scored, he practised after training, and he would always do extra training. His professionalism is unbelievable,” the 2021 FA Cup winner added.
Lookman’s hat-trick in the UEFA Europa League final won Atalanta’s first trophy in Europe, giving Gian Piero Gasperini his first major trophy as a manager.