Nigerian football legend Segun Odegbami believes both Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman are on the path to football greatness following their impressive performances, reports Sportblog247.com. However, Odegbami suggests that Atalanta BC star Lookman may be slightly ahead in their journey to the pinnacle of the sport.

Osimhen has reached new heights over the past year, powering Napoli to their first Scudetto in over three decades and becoming the first African to win the Italian Serie A top scorer award. His achievements were further recognized when he was named the African Footballer of the Year, the first Nigerian to win this honor since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999.

Despite these accolades, Odegbami believes Osimhen has not yet made the complete mental transition into the realm of football’s greatest players. “That’s the slight shortfall, so far, in Victor Osimhen’s place in football till now,” Odegbami told Complete Sports. “He is a very good player but still on the periphery of greatness despite his becoming Africa’s best player and his stellar goalscoring in Napoli. When he makes that final mental transition, when he becomes fully aware of his capability and starts to play deliberately with ease, confidence, and composure, he will immediately join the ranks of the gods of African football.”

In contrast, Odegbami asserts that Ademola Lookman has demonstrated this mental shift, especially with his recent performance in the Europa League final. Lookman scored a sensational hat-trick, the first by an African in a European final, leading underdogs Atalanta BC to a 3-0 victory over Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen. This was the only defeat for Bayer Leverkusen in their 53-game season across three competitions.

Lookman’s confidence and composure in scoring all three goals earned him the Man of the Match title. Combined with his outstanding performance at the 2023 AFCON, where he was Nigeria’s top performer with three goals and an assist, Odegbami believes Lookman has now entered the ‘territory of the gods’ in football.

“Last Sunday night, during the final match of the Europa Cup, Ademola Lookman, who flew like an eagle, may have transited into that realm,” Odegbami added. “His three great goals, with a historic victory for his team to boot, may have taken him to the edge of greatness. In 90 minutes, at the moment of his club’s greatest challenge in football, he earned the transition rights through his performance. It is not easy to score a goal in football. To score two goals is extremely difficult. To score three in the finals of a European Club championship is a ‘miracle’. I listened to Ademola Lookman after the match when he addressed the press. I saw in his eyes and heard in his voice, the evidence of his metamorphosis from a really ‘good’ player to a ‘great’ one, going forward. Ademola will never be the same player again. In a quantum leap, he finally completed what he started at AFCON 2023. Now, he is in the territory of the gods of the ‘Beautiful game’. I congratulate him and wish him great days ahead in his football. It is now that Nigeria will start to enjoy and benefit from the greatness of the man.”

Lookman concluded the 2023/24 season with 16 goals and nine assists across 44 appearances for Atalanta.