Atalanta have been among the most exciting attacking sides, not just in Serie A but in all of Europe, since the arrival of Gian Piero Gasperini in 2016.
Despite a relatively meagre budget compared to other top clubs, Gasperini has had La Dea competing with the big boys by taking average to good attacking players and making them great.
And Ademola Lookman looks to be the latest addition to that growing list of attackers that has gone on to become stars under Gasperini’s guidance.
Read on below as SBOTOP examines the sudden rise of Ademola Lookman as Atalanta’s main man in attack.
Atalanta’s growing list of attacking stars under Gasperini
Gasperini’s track record of transforming unspectacular players into attacking stars at Atalanta has been nothing short of astounding.
Papu Gomez had already been in the club for a couple of years upon Gasperini’s arrival in 2016, but the tiny Argentine suddenly exploded in Gasperini’s system. Papu had 16 goals and 10 assists in his first season under Gasperini and had three more incredibly productive campaigns before falling out with Gasperini and moving to Sevilla, where he hasn’t been nearly the same player.
Josip Ilicic was signed during Gasperini’s second season, and while he showed flashes during his spells at Palermo and Fiorentina, few could have imagined just how good Ilicic would become. From 2017 to 2021, Ilicic scored 44 goals with 27 assists and was for a brief time one of, if not the best player in all of Serie A.
The Colombian striker duo of Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel experienced similar career seasons upon moving to Atalanta as Gasperini got the very best out of them. But both have quickly fallen off as they’ve hit their 30s, which left Gasperini with a tough job of rebuilding the squad from scratch.
Ademola Lookman, an unlikely star
Enter Ademola Lookman, who arrived in Bergamo this summer without much fanfare after some unspectacular stops in England and Germany.
Lookman flashed some potential at a young age. After starring at Charlton, an 18-year-old Lookman earned himself a big move to Premier League side Everton. However, the teenager struggled to live up to his early promise at Merseyside, scoring just one league goal in 36 appearances over three seasons for the Toffees.
Lookman had a successful loan spell in the 2017-18 season with RB Leipzig, though, scoring 5 goals in 11 appearances. However, he failed to replicate that form upon making a permanent move to the Red Bulls in 2019-20.
And once again, after a couple more somewhat positive loan spells at Premier League clubs Fulham (4 goals, 4 assists in 34 games) and Leicester City (6 goals in 26 games), Lookman earned another move, this time to Atalanta.
After his middling production throughout multiple clubs, it looked as though Lookman’s star had waned. But like all the others before, Gasperini has quickly worked his magic on the Nigerian, who has emerged as one of Serie A’s breakout stars.
Lookman is right on the heels of Victor Osimhen at the top of the Serie A goalscoring charts with 12 goals, and he has also contributed 3 assists and plenty of other Serie A 2023 highlights. If not for the brilliance of Osimhen’s Napoli team-mate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Lookman would without question be hailed as Serie A’s signing of the season.
And thanks in large part to Lookman’s goals, Atalanta are back challenging near the top of the table after a down year last season.
Looking ahead to Lookman’s future
Before getting ahead of ourselves and proclaiming definitively that Lookman is a legitimate star after just half a season, it is important to note Lookman’s underlying stats. With his 12 goals (three of which have come from the penalty spot), he is significantly overperforming his expected goals (xG) of 7.5 at the moment.
While Lookman has levelled up his game and is performing much better than in previous stops, there is a bit of good luck to his first half-season at Atalanta, one that is unlikely to continue to that extent long-term.
On the other hand, though, Gasperini’s track record is hard to deny at this point. He seems to have the Midas touch when it comes to getting middling attackers to play way better than they have in the past, and Lookman looks like another entry to that growing list of success stories. The emergence of Teun Koopmeiners and teenage striker Rasmus Hojlund this season are further proof of Gasperini’s great coaching abilities.
While Lookman’s long-term future as a legitimate star is to be determined, what’s certain is that with the gradual decline of Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel, Lookman is now Atalanta’s main man, and La Dea’s Serie A 2023 odds of returning to European football hinge on him continuing his high level of play.
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