Former Atalanta midfielder Massimo Donati believes Ademola Lookman’s remarkable transformation lies in the forward’s newfound understanding of his abilities, Soccernet.ng reports.

After different underwhelming spells in England and Germany, Lookman arrived in Italy in 2022 to join Atalanta from RB Leipzig in a deal slightly less than €10 million.

The Nigerian international has been nothing short of sensational for Atalanta, helping himself to back-to-back Player of the Season awards at the club.

Atalanta are the current Europa League champions, with Lookman playing a key part in that triumph by netting a sensational hat-trick in the final match against Bayer Leverkusen.

The former Everton and Fulham star has carried his excellent form into the 2024/25 season to inspire Atalanta to the top of the Italian Serie A table.

Following Lookman’s contributions to Atalanta, the Super Eagles forward was on Monday named the new Africa Footballer of the Year.

And former Celtic Glasgow midfielder Donati has hailed Lookman’s transformation, insisting the winger’s strength is in his awareness of his abilities.

“Lookman is an incredible player,” Donati told Gazzetta as per Football-Italia.

“The biggest improvement he’s made is to gain awareness of his strengths. Once you realise that, nobody can stop you.”

Lookman is expected to be benched as the Atalanta Serie A table leaders face Cesena in the Coppa Italia Round of 16 today.

Fiorentina fullback Michael Kayode has been named the Best Italian Talent at the 2024 Golden Boy Awards, a recognition of his stellar season with the Serie A club.

The 20-year-old, born in Bergamo to Nigerian parents, has had a remarkable journey in football. Starting his youth career at Juventus, Kayode spent seven years at the academy before moving on in 2018.

In 2021, he joined Fiorentina after a stint in Serie D and quickly made his mark in their youth setup. His contributions helped the team win the Coppa Italia Primavera and the Supercoppa Italiana Primavera.

Kayode’s big break came in August 2023 when he made his Serie A debut in Fiorentina’s 4–1 victory over Genoa. By the season’s end, he had established himself as a vital part of the first team, featuring prominently in Serie A and during Fiorentina’s run to the UEFA Conference League final.

Internationally, Kayode has been equally impressive. A key figure in Italy’s youth squads, he played a vital role in the UEFA European U-19 Championship final in July 2023, leading Italy to victory over Portugal. He further solidified his rising profile with his U-21 debut on 17 October 2023, helping Italy secure a 2–0 win against Norway in Bolzano.

Profile in view

Michael Olabode Kayode is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Serie A club Fiorentina. He was born in Italy, Kayode is of Nigerian descent.

The son of Yoruba parents started his youth career at Juventus, where he remained for seven years until 2018. He played the 2020–21 season with Serie D club Gozzano, with which he scored two goals and two assists in 34 matches, and gained promotion to Serie C.

Patrick Vieira oversaw his first training session as the new coach of Genoa and reunited with Mario Balotelli after their previous personality clashes.

The former Crystal Palace and Strasbourg boss was appointed today to replace Alberto Gilardino and met his players for the afternoon session at the Villa Rostan camp.

Genoa released several images of Vieira in his first session, including pointedly a picture of him speaking individually to Balotelli.

The pair were teammates at Manchester City and then famously clashed when reunited at OGC Nice, where Vieira was coach and Balotelli a player.

The new boss will make his debut on the bench in a relegation tussle against Cagliari at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, also known as Marassi, on Sunday at 11.30 GMT.

It remains to be seen how he will be greeted, as the Genoa fans were very fond of Gilardino and are protesting his sudden dismissal.