Ademola Lookman made his name at Charlton Athletic and has already become a Premier League player with Everton and a World Cup winner at Under-20 level with England, but that does not necessarily mean that the 20-year-old's professional career is continuing on an upward curve. The prospect is no more than a fringe player in Marco Silva's first-team squad at Goodison Park and his latest performance for England Under-21's suggested that there is still plenty of work to do in order to regain the kind of form which resulted in an impressive period on loan at RB Leipzig last season, and Lookman is now faced with the dilemma of where to pledge his international allegiances for the remainder of his playing days.
Just like when using bettingsites.ng, Lookman will weigh up the pros and cons before making his final decision, and the attacker will have to take a number of things into consideration. There will naturally be a sense of pride with representing the country of his parents - who are both from Nigeria - and the pathway to becoming a regular for the Super Eagles is likely to be easier than waiting for an opportunity with the Three Lions. Lookman will also look to the successful switch of another fellow Londoner in Wilfried Zaha, who has already won eight caps for the Ivory Coast after falling down the pecking order for a regular role in the senior England squad.
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Lookman has the potential to go on and gain 100 or more caps with Nigeria if he makes the switch now and should he do so, the there will be a number of familiar faces from the Premier League to welcome him into the fold, but question marks remain regarding how long Lookman is prepared to wait before committing his future either way. As many as 28 appearances have been made for England between Under-19 and Under-21 level and as well as a familiarity with England's national system, playing for the young Lions has given Lookman a chance of more action at a time when he has generally been restricted to token cameos from the substitutes' bench. The best moments of Lookman's career have come with the national team with three goals being scored during the knockout stages of the Under-20 World Cup, including a strike in the semi-final triumph over Italy. Lookman also featured for 76 minutes in the final against Venezuela.
Those are memories which Lookman will never forget but that does not necessarily mean that outings will come for the senior team and on a regular basis. England are blessed with wide options and with Ryan Sessegnon and Jadon Sancho expected to become mainstays on the flanks in the future, the ramifications for Lookman could be years of being in and out of squads and no certainty of ever being able to play for England at a major tournament. Nigeria have failed to qualify for the last two Africa Cup of Nations, but they have been present at six of the last seven World Cups and that is surely something which will come into Lookman's thought process.
Lookman turns 21 in October and while there has been talk of a permanent transfer to RB Leipzig for a fee somewhere in the region of £25m, the player still has just four Premier League starts to his name. There have been a dozen appearances from the bench, but that is simply not enough for a player of his potential and certainly not enough for Gareth Southgate, who already finds himself having to select players who are only second choice at their respective top-flight clubs. A move back to the Bundesliga would have given Lookman less of a decision to make because Southgate would have been monitoring his progress but as it stands, Lookman is nowhere near being selected by the England boss and if logic plays its part, representing Nigeria appears to be the way forward.
