Nigerian and Super Eagle’s forward Ademola Lookman has been nominated for the 2024 men’s Ballon d’Or award. He is the only African male player nominated for this year’s award.
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The 26 year old striker enjoyed a successful 2023/2024 season in Italy with Atalanta, scoring 17 goals and made 11 assists in all competition for Atalanta.
He helped Atalanta win its first-ever European trophy, scoring a hat-trick in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen of Germany.
A former Everton player, Lookman was also instrumental in the Super Eagles run to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire early this year.
He scored two goals as the Nigerian team finished as runners up in the competition after losing 2-1 to the hosts in the final.
In the list announced by France Football Magazine on Wednesday, the 26-year-old Atalanta of Italy player was shortlisted alongside 29 players for the coveted award.
Eight-time winner and current holder Lionel Messi is not listed for this years’s award as well as five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
Some notable names on the list include Jude Bellingham, Vini Junior, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.
See Men’s list of nominees
- Jude Bellingham
- Hakan Çalhanoğlu
- Dani Carvajal
- Martin Ødegaard
- Dani Olmo
- Cole Palmer
- Rúben Dias
- Declan Rice
- Artem Dovbyk
- Rodri
- Phil Foden
- Antonio Rüdiger
- Alejandro Grimaldo
- Bukayo Saka
- Erling Haaland
- William Saliba
- Mats Hummels
- Federico Valverde
- Harry Kane
- Vinícius Jr.
- Toni Kroos
- Vitinha
- Ademola Lookman
- Nico Williams
- Emiliano Martínez
- Florian Wirtz
- Lautaro Martínez
- Kylian Mbappé
- Granit Xhaka
- Lamine Yamal
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur