African Player of The Year Ademola Lookman has named Jay-Jay Okocha and Obafemi Martins as his favourite Nigerian players of all time, while interacting with fans on his newly-opened TikTok account.
“Two spring to mind right now, Jay-Jay Okocha and Obafemi Martins. I can name more but I can’t really think of them right now so I will say two of them but there’s more”, Lookman said.
The Atalanta forward, who recently made his 100th appearance for the Italian club, also revealed that his roommate Calvin Bassey is his closest friend in the Super Eagles squad.
“Probably my ‘innit’ boys (born in England). We’re all so close but if I have to pick one, probably my roommate, Calvin Bassey”, the 27-year-old added.
Meanwhile, Lookman’s hopes of reaching two milestones were dashed on Saturday as Atalanta played out a goalless draw against Udinese at the Bluenergy Stadium.
The Nigeria international needed one goal to reach 50 career strikes in Europe’s top five leagues and become the first player to score at least 10 goals in three consecutive Serie A seasons.
The former Everton winger has been in spectacular form, finishing 2024 as Serie A’s most productive player with 16 goals and 11 assists across all competitions, which earned him the prestigious CAF African Player of The Year award in December.
His impressive performances have attracted interest from several European giants, with Liverpool recently having an approach rejected by Atalanta, who value the forward at €55 million.
When asked about his greatest of all time, Lookman diplomatically chose both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, while naming his hat-trick-sealing goal in last season’s Europa League final victory over Bayer Leverkusen as his favourite strike.
