Lookman joined Charlton Athletic's academy in 2014 after signing from Waterloo, a youth football club based in the London Borough of Lambeth. His goalscoring record for Charlton's U18 and U21 teams led to him making a rapid ascent through the Charlton academy ranks and he made his first-team debut for the Addicks on 3 November 2015. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion on 5 December 2015, and then followed that up with both Charlton's goals in a 2–2 draw with Bolton Wanderers ten days later.
Everton
Lookman signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Everton on 5 January2017 for an undisclosed fee, reported as an initial £7.5m potentially rising to £11m with add-ons. He made his debut for the club ten days later in a 4–0 victory over Manchester City, replacing Ross Barkley in the 90th minute and scoring the team's fourth goal. Lookman made his first European appearance for Everton in a 1–0 win over MFK Ružomberok in the Europa League third qualifying round first leg. Although manager Sam Allardyce stated that Lookman would not be leaving on loan in the January 2018 transfer window, he changed his mind, and the club arranged a move to Championship club Derby County, where they hoped he would play regular first-team football. However, the player insisted on an alternative move, and joined Bundesliga club RB Leipzig until the end of the 2017–18 season. In his first game with Leipzig, Lookman scored the winning goal in the away game against Borussia Mönchengladbach after coming on as a late substitute.
RB Leipzig
On 25 July 2019, Lookman returned to RB Leipzig on a five-year deal, a year and a half after a successful loan spell at the German outfit scoring 5 goals in 11 appearances.
International career
Lookman was born in England to parents from Nigeria, and is eligible for the national teams of both countries. He received his first international call-up when he was named in the England U19 squad for two matches against Mexico. He was subsequently named in the squad for the European U19 Championships that summer. In early 2017, Lookman turned down the opportunity to switch allegiance to Nigeria after an approach from the national coach, Gernot Rohr. Lookman was selected in the England under-20 team for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He scored three goals in the tournament, two against Costa Rica in the last 16 and one goal against Italy in the semi-finals. England beat Venezuela 1–0 in the final, to achieve the country's first victory in the final of a global tournament since the 1966 World Cup. He received his first call-up for the England under-21s for European Championship qualifiers against the Netherlands under-21s and Latvia under-21s in September 2017. He made his debut in the first match, and set up Everton teammate Dominic Calvert-Lewin for England's goal in a 1–1 draw. Lookman has been excellent for England at youth levels and some football reporters rate Lookman as the best young footballer from England.
