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Sam Allardyce explained that a lack of consistency was the reason behind Ademola Lookman’s lack of first team exposure this season – and that he still tried to talk the young winger out of his unexpected loan move to Germany.

Lookman has joined Bundesliga high-fliers Red Bull Leipzig until the end of the season, and Allardyce “hopes” he gets more regular football than he was getting at Everton.

After making an impact in the FA Cup derby at Anfield, when his burst helped create a goal for Gylfi Sigurdsson, Lookman was an used substitute at Wembley against Spurs but was then left out of the next two first team squads entirely.

Allardyce explained: “I don’t guarantee anybody first team football here. We have a huge amount of players here fighting and scrapping for places. It’s a difficult task to get in the side. He hadn’t played much before I got here and it ‘s a consistency level which is the problem.

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“Our inconsistency has been the problem even with our senior players, but I have to keep emphasising this, because it doesn’t get enough publicity, we are the top team to play youngsters in every division in this country.

“We play more youngsters per minute in all of the professional leagues in this country. So we do have a lot of youngsters getting in the side and getting huge experience but everybody knows this is the hardest place to play football at 21 and 22 and younger.

“But youngsters have had the opportunity here.”

(Image: Colin Lane)

Since Allardyce took over the reins from caretaker boss David Unsworth, Jonjoe Kenny, Nikola Vlasic, Mason Holgate, Tom Davies, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Beni Baningime have all had first team exposure.

And Allardyce was keen to keep Lookman.

“I was, but he insisted, so rather than have a player who has going to have the wrong attitude around the place, we allowed him to go.

“He wanted to play some football, but I wasn’t very keen on it based on the fact that we’d already let Aaron Lennon and Kevin Mirallas go, but he really wanted to play some football.

“We had another offer from a top Championship club as well but he chose Leipzig. Hopefully he will get a lot of football in the Bundesliga, but for me it is a very very difficult challenge for anybody, especially somebody at such a young age.

“He has a lot of talent from the football point of view, but from cultural point of view and a language point of view he could find that difficult.”