Explaining the importance of Lookman as a permanent signing
Nonetheless, Lookman prevailed. He also created two chances in the game for the East Midlands outfit, the early cutback to Youri Tielemans and the cross into the Belgian in the second-half, who narrowly missed the top-left corner with his curling left-footed strike. Both show that the loanee has an understanding of the progressive runs from midfield — even if he does overlook them at times.
His instructions out of possession were to press the right-centre-back Max Kilman, in a similar vein to Marc Albrighton’s pressing on the left-centre-back Romain Saïss, as Rodgers’ utilised his 4-3-3 structure to match Wolves’ defensive three (in a 3-5-2). The high press is something Lookman also thrives in, as he enjoys pressurising the opposition with his pace and desire to reclaim possession. Evidence being the four ball recoveries he managed in the game.
In a game dominated by the King Power side, Ademola Lookman was one of the forwards impacting the fixture the most. He tirelessly ran into the left-channel creating and pressing and was rewarded with a goal — whilst probably deserving an assist for his efforts too. A lot of talk surrounds the acquisition of his services full-time in the upcoming summer, and at a reasonable £15million, I’d be surprised if the Foxes didn’t pull the trigger on a deal like that.
light. Read. What it’s really like in an away end at a Midlands derby
If he was to become more of a bench option, the fee isn’t too extortionate, especially when considering the fees of Boubakary Soumaré (£18m) and Patson Daka (£27m), who both have featured as primarily squad players this season — obviously with the idea of transitioning into starters for Rodgers. I think Leicester City would struggle to find a player with Lookman’s profile, that has acclimatised to the settings of the Premier League, for anything lower than his estimation.