He’s the man Celtic simply can’t afford to lose track off in Italy.
But Ademola Lookman will always be the one that got away for Brendan Rodgers. The Hoops boss almost managed to tempt the Atalanta hero to Parkhead during his first spell in charge, when the Nigerian winger was just a kid running riot with Charlton in England. Celtic couldn’t quite come up with the dosh but Rodgers did finally land his man when he was in charge of Leicester City and he landed the flying machine on loan from RB Leipzig.
Lookman would eventually end up in Serie A where he achieved legendary status with his hat trick in last season’s famous Europa League win. Rodgers doesn’t need to be told where the danger will come from on Wednesday when the sides clash in the Champions League. And this time he really can’t afford to allow the attacker to get away.
He said: “How close was he to signing? Close in the fact that he was really excited by the project of Celtic. I met him in a hotel in London and we were looking to convince him to come. Sadly, we just couldn’t get to the levels that Charlton wanted for him.
“But the club did everything they possibly could at that time. He was at Charlton at the time, he wanted to join a big club. He didn’t feel those pressures and everything of why a player would want to come to Celtic.
“Charlton clearly were wanting to get as much as they possibly could for him. We spoke to him, from a personal perspective. It was a move that should have helped him and his representatives. He was very clear on that.
“But obviously it was a financial sum in the end. I think he went from maybe £11 million or something to Everton. It just drifted away from us. Financially it was a challenge on the fee. But wages and everything else the club could do. The player was keen in that moment. That’s as close as it got.
“We’ve stayed in contact and he’s such a good guy, brilliant player. We wanted to sign him at Leicester at the time, with the chance to take him. But sadly we couldn’t sign any players that summer. Lee Congestion (the former Celtic recruitment chief now in Italy) then took him here to Atalanta. He’s now a club legend.”
Rodgers isn’t surprised. He said: “He’s an absolutely brilliant young player. We stayed in contact and when I was at Leicester, we wanted to bring in another winger and inquired about his availability when he was at Red Bull.
“And he came in and he was absolutely brilliant for me in that season, he was there, he scored some outstanding goals. I remember a great individual goal against Liverpool.
“I’m so proud of him and the career that he’s had because he’s a young guy who came out of London and wasn’t scared to travel. Going to Germany at the time and obviously coming up to the northwest of England, to Everton.
“When he came to Leicester, you could see everything he was. He leads his life in the right way. Everything is geared towards being the best he can be. Watching him in that Europa League final, the goals he scored were not by accident.
“He practiced that every day of his life where he could. He would be out with a bag of balls, doing shooting exercises long after everyone else had gone in. Working on his right foot and left foot.
“He’s so balanced. He can shoot up his right foot the same as his left foot. He’s an absolutely incredible young professional. To see him score the hat-trick in the final last year was absolutely amazing.”
Rodgers is a huge admirer of Atalanta – but he is convinced Celtic will get chances given the attacking style of the Serie A side. He said: “You always believe that. Every team will have a weakness. When we look at the Como game, or the Arsenal game, and other games, there’s opportunities there.
“But you have to be at the very top end of your game. This is a team full of confidence, full of quality, full of physicality. They’re renowned for their man-marking style in how they defend at Atalanta. But that’s a really attacking philosophy.
“It’s one that creates opportunities. That’s how they work and play. They’ve shown that over the last number of years. We have to be mindful of the attacking threats, absolutely. The power and the speed that they have. There’s a real great challenge in front of us, but also a great opportunity to show that we can kick on from the last game.”