“Special” – Super Eagles forward speaks on his Ballon d’Or nomination alongside teammate reaction

Super Eagles and Atalanta winger, Ademola Olajade Lookman, has revealed he felt special after he was nominated for the 2024 Ballon d’Or award, Soccernet.ng reports.

The former Leicester man was outstanding in the last campaign for Atalanta, rounding the season off in grand style as his side trashed Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the UEFA Europa League final, while he scored all three goals at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.

The 2024 CAF Player of the Year frontrunner was also a force for the Nigerian national team, scoring three goals to help the Super Eagles to a second place finish at the AFCON 2023 tournament.

His brilliant displays saw him nominated for the prestigious 2024 Ballon d’Or award, and he described the feeling of being included as special.

“It’s a special, special, feeling man. I was on a bus on the way back from training and I saw an handle post that I’d been nominated for the Ballon d’Or and I was a bit surprised. I kept scrolling, then I saw loads and loads of notifications, so I knew it was real,” the ex-RB Leipzig man said on the Counter Attack Podcast.

Lookman’s nomination saw him become just the 8th Nigerian footballer to be nominated for the prestigious award. He mentioned how his National compatriot, Calvin Bassey was overjoyed after he got the news.

“Obviously, I am in a room with Calvin Bassey and when I told him, he was just jumping up and down. He was very happy and was like you don’t really understand. That was when I took it in,” Lookman said about the Fulham defender.

The Atalanta man continued his fine form for the Super Eagles during the just-concluded International break, scoring a brace in Nigeria’s win over Benin Republic.