Ademola Lookman fires Everton reminder in stunning Europa League final statement

Former Everton winger Ademola Lookman fired a stunning hat-trick in Atalanta's 3-0 Europa League final win on Wednesday night. Lookman netted twice inside 26 minutes in Dublin before completing his treble 15 minutes from time to round off the scoring against a Bayer Leverkusen side who were gunning for a treble after a domestic double under Xabi Alonso.

Atalanta stormed to victory thanks to a stunning display from Lookman, who was signed by Everton from Charlton Athletic in 2017 and spent two years at the club before departing permanently for RB Leipzig in 2019. Lookman returned to England on loan at Leicester City in 2021 and was sold by Leipzig a year later to Atlanta.

He has made 76 appearances in Bergamo, scoring 30 goals including Wednesday's treble. Lookman was on the substitute's bench for April's stunning 3-0 win at Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the Europa League before coming on for the 1-0 defeat in the second leg in Italy.

Everton braced for news on transfers, points deduction and takeover with key dates imminent

Everton takeover: 777 Partners saga complicates transfer plan as major priority clear for new owners

In netting his hat-trick, Lookman became the first person to do so in a Europa League final with bookmakers Betfair reporting one fan placed a bet at 500/1 for him to net a treble. "One of the best nights of my life, yeah," he said after the game. "Amazing performance from the team, we did it, not got many words to say - it's fantastic."

Lookman opted to move on from Everton and follow a path trodden by fellow Londoner Jadon Sancho and take his chances in Germany when Leipzig forked out an initial £16m to sign him.

"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my teammates at Everton football