Ademola Lookman has returned to training with RB Leipzig while Leicester City continues to mull over a move for the winger.
Lookman enjoyed a successful loan spell at the King Power Stadium last season, scoring eight goals, providing five assists, and contributing to some of City’s biggest moments of the campaign across 41 appearances. As such, City are keen to bring him back to the club for the new season.
But while Lookman is on City’s radar, they have not opted to take up the £14m buy clause in his loan contract. While he is a player they want, he is not one of their leading priorities, the Nigerian international seen as a player who can provide competition to Harvey Barnes on the left flank, rather than as a starter.
And so, Lookman returned to training with Leipzig at the start of this week, where he met his manager for the first time. Domenico Tedesco took over from the sacked Jesse Marsch in December last year – when Lookman was midway through his City loan spell – and guided the club from 11th to fourth to earn Champions League qualification.
Reports in Germany say Tedesco will give Lookman a chance to impress during pre-season, but there is a hurdle for the 24-year-old. Tedesco is set on a system that does not utilise wingers, with the width provided by full-backs operating as wing-backs.
So, if Lookman is to earn a place in Tedesco’s squad, he must convince the Italian-German boss he can operate as an attacking midfielder or as a striker in his formation, which swaps between 3-4-1-2 and 3-4-2-1.
And they already have a very talented group of players to occupy those front three positions in Christopher Nkunku, Dani Olmo, Emil Forsberg, Dominik Szoboszlai, Andre Silva, and Yussuf Poulsen.
A sale or loan therefore remains likely. Lookman is beginning the fourth of his five-year contract with Leipzig, following his move from Everton in 2019, but has only spent a year there, his last two seasons coming at Fulham and then City. Starting his career at Charlton, Lookman is yet to reach 50 appearances for any of his clubs, with Brendan Rodgers previously saying he needed to settle down and find a home to really kick on in his career.
In an ideal world, a deal for Lookman is one of five or six City will do as part of the squad revamp Rodgers is hoping for. The club also want a new centre-back, a new right-sided winger, and at least two new central midfielders.
