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The ex-Liverpool boss noted that Ademola Lookman had agreed to terms with his club before he joined a Premier League club.
Brendan Rodgers, the former manager of Liverpool and current Celtic boss, has opened up about his near-miss in signing Nigerian international Ademola Lookman during his first spell at Celtic.
In a recent interview ahead of Celtic’s crucial Champions League match against Atalanta, Rodgers recounted how Lookman had initially agreed to personal terms with the Scottish club before ultimately joining Premier League side Everton.
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Rodgers revealed that he met Lookman in a London hotel as part of the club's efforts to convince the then-youngster to make the move from Charlton Athletic.
"Ademola was one that we tracked back in my first time at Celtic," he said per the report from Independent.ie. "Sadly, we just couldn't get to the levels that Charlton wanted for him."
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The winger, then 19, was keen on joining a big club and experiencing the pressures that come with it. However, Charlton Athletic was determined to secure a substantial fee for their rising star.
"We spoke to him from a personal perspective. It was a move that suited him and suited his representatives, and he was very clear on that," Rodgers explained.
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"But obviously it was the financial sum at the end; he went to Everton, and it just drifted away from us."
Despite missing out on signing Lookman, Rodgers maintained contact with him over the years.
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During his tenure at Leicester City, he expressed interest in bringing Lookman on board when he was playing for Red Bull Leipzig.
"He came in and was absolutely brilliant for me, scoring some outstanding goals," Rodgers recalled, highlighting a memorable goal Lookman scored against Liverpool during his time at Leicester.
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Rodgers lamented that despite wanting to sign Lookman, Leicester was unable to make any signings that summer. Eventually, Lookman moved to Atalanta, where he has become a key player and is now regarded as a club legend.
Lookman, who recently turned 27, proved to be the hero as Atalanta dispatched Bayer Leverkusen earlier this year to lift the Europa League at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The Nigerian netted all three goals, becoming the first player in UEFA history to do so in a major European final.
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