The director of football at RB Leipzig has confirmed that he is keeping a “very close eye” on the development of Everton winger Ademola Lookman as he reveals a desire to secure a reunion with the forward after his time in Germany.
The 5’8″ (source: Transfermarkt) spent the second half of the 2017/18 season on loan at the Bundesliga outfit and impressed in his 11 appearances, scoring five goals and chipping in with a further four assists.
With just five games to his name this season, Leipzig’s Paul Mitchell has confirmed he would love to secure a return for the 21-year-old if Everton were willing to do business.
He told the Sun: “It’s clear how much affection we have for Ademola and I think from the way he performed here, the environment we created for him and the platform we gave him, he also enjoyed his time here.
“And with a situation like that, we would always be open to revisiting, but you never know. At this moment he is an Everton player and he’s working with some really good people there.
“We know him and we will always keep a very close eye on his development because we see him as a Red Bull guy from his time here. But at the moment we just have to hope that he continues his progression as a footballer and let’s see what the future brings.”
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At least Lookman knows he will always have somewhere to go if his career at Everton does not work out. Mitchell has been respectful by not insisting that the German outfit are actively pursuing his capture but reading between the lines the message is quite clear – Leipzig want Lookman back at the club. It is obvious as to why they are so keen to see him return after he dazzled in his short time there, and with Everton boss Marco Silva not handing him much game time Mitchell must be feeling as though there is a chance of securing his capture on the promise of more game time. Whether an offer comes in remains to be seen, but there could quite possibly be another loan deal being pushed onto the table by the Bundesliga side if Lookman does not play much more football until the new year. He would likely be open to leaving again if that were the case, but the decision all comes down to whether Silva wants him to remain as backup to the first team, or if he has big plans for him in 2019.