Nigeria’s Lookman joins Atletico and will set new record

Atletico Madrid have signed Nigeria forward Ademola Lookman from Atalanta in a deal worth £30.3m

Lookman will be the first English-born player to have played in the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga. Just 21 players have done so, while only three - Christian Poulsen, Justin Kluivert and Stevan Jovetic - have featured in all of Europe's"big five" leagues, which also includes France's Ligue 1.

The London-born 28-year-old has played in Serie A since 2022, scoring 55 times and making 27 assists following a move from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig. His goals included a hat-trick in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen in 2024, which secured the club's first European trophy.

In 2024, he was named African Footballer of the Year and was also the only African player on the men's Ballon d'Or shortlist that year, finishing 14th. He represented England at youth level, winning the Under-20 World Cup in 2017, before making his debut for Nigeria in 2022.

Atletico, who are third in Spain's top flight and trail leaders Barcelona by ten points, announced they had agreed a deal with Atalanta on Monday before confirming that Lookman has signed until June 2030 on transfer deadline day. He began his career at Charlton Athletic, playing his first game in 2015, before moving to Everton two years later, where he scored on his Premier League debut. Following a successful loan spell, he then moved permanently to Leipzig in July 2019.

He then had season-long loans with Fulham and Leicester City before making the switch to Italy.