Goodison Park was a heady concoction of hysteria and disbelief when Ademola Lookman announced himself on the Premier League stage. The teenager was four minutes into his Everton debut when he sealed a 4-0 victory over Manchester City and, as Pep Guardiola digested the heaviest league defeat of his managerial career, celebrated by sliding on his knees towards the Gwladys Street. And that, unfortunately for all concerned, was as good as it got for the gifted young winger’s Everton career.
Lookman has joined RB Leipzig for around £22.5m and a sense of regret on Everton’s part. Not regret that an England Under-20 World Cup winner has joined the flow of young talent into the Bundesliga but that the rich promise Lookman brought from Charlton Athletic in January 2017 has never been fulfilled in their colours. The 21-year-old can justifiably argue he was not given the opportunity at Goodison. A succession of Everton managers will contest he never made the most of the chances they offered, on a match-day or in training, and none more so than Marco Silva.
That debut goal in the 94th minute against City, coming just 10 days after his step up from League One, was the only time Lookman scored in the Premier League for Everton. Only seven Premier League starts followed. A total of 14 starts and 34 substitute appearances in all competitions reflects a lack of trust from the various managers he played under – Ronald Koeman, David Unsworth, Sam Allardyce and finally Silva – plus the cause of the player’s own frustration and determination to return to Leipzig, where he flourished on loan two seasons ago.
It was Lookman’s single-mindedness that drove his initial move to Germany in January 2018. Ignoring the advice of Allardyce, who wanted the winger to go to Derby on loan, his five goals in 11 appearances disproved the one-time England manager’s theory that a foreign league and language could hinder his development. Leipzig’s determination to resign Lookman on a permanent basis that summer, and their increased offers 12 months later, is a measure of the abilities they untapped. That consistency and, certainly since his return to Everton, that contentment has not been replicated on Merseyside.
Silva made a concerted effort to rekindle Lookman’s enthusiasm for Everton when he succeeded Allardyce last summer and refused the youngster’s wish to rejoin Leipzig. There was a notably subdued display during the transfer saga in a pre-season friendly against Valencia but the new Everton manager was reluctant to admonish Lookman in public. “I told him and our board on the first day that I believe in his skills and his profile,” Silva responded. “I did my technical analysis on him and he is a good talent. He is our present and our future. Now he has to fight for his position.”
Over the course of the season, however, the manager’s patience was stretched. Tactical indiscipline and a lack of defensive effort were contributory factors but Silva also hinted at day-to-day issues when asked about omitting Lookman from match-day squads. “I keep believing 100% in his quality as a football player,” the Everton manager said in March: “but what I want to see is the same desire coming from him, each day, to achieve that, to reach that level he wants and the level I believe he can play at.”
Silva had earlier handed Lookman a run of four consecutive starts, commencing with a goal and an impressive performance against Lincoln City in the FA Cup third round, but lost faith after Everton’s exit at Millwall in round four. In Lookman’s defence it must have been disheartening to see Theo Walcott keep him out of the team last season despite a series of anonymous displays. When Everton’s campaign belatedly revived under Silva it was with Richarlison switched to the right and Bernard left.
Cold economics prompted Everton to accept Leipzig’s offer as well as their manager’s views on the player. Lookman was one of the few signings made by Koeman and former director of football Steve Walsh that the club could make a profit from. Nikola Vlasic and Idrissa Gana Gueye were others and, with the former sold to CSKA Moscow for £14m and the latter still keen to join Paris Saint-Germain, all three could be gone before the close of this transfer window. Lookman was signed for an initial £7.5m from Charlton with add-ons potentially taking the fee to £11m. Everton have more than doubled their money on a player who never secured a regular first team place.
It was former Charlton manager Karl Robinson who described the intelligent and determined Lookman as a “maverick”. Robinson said: “He does stuff you don’t expect, his movement patterns are different and he is an exciting, young English kid. He gets on the ball and you think: ‘Something is going to happen here’.” That was true of his fleeting Everton appearances, and perhaps it is hypocritical to sign a maverick and then demand tactical and defensive discipline. But Lookman’s departure is one that benefits all parties.