Salernitana forward Boulaye Dia set an African record as he scored a hat-trick in Salernitana’s 3-3 draw with Fiorentina in the Serie A on Wednesday.
The Senegal international has been in top goalscoring form for the Garnets lately, having a hand in nine goals (seven goals, two assists) in his last eight matches.
His tally includes the equaliser l in the 1-1 draw with Serie A leaders and neighbours Napoli last weekend, denying the Partenopei the chance to lift their first league title in 33 years.
Dia gave Salernitana the lead on three occasions against Fiorentina but they were pegged back each time with Cristiano Biraghi levelling the game for the last time in the 84th minute.
Dia’s hat-trick saw him become Salernitana’s top scorer in Serie A, surpassing Marco Di Vaio and Federico Bonazzoli with scored 12 goals apiece.
The Villarreal loanee has taken his tally to 15 Serie A goals this season and became the sixth African to score 15 goals in one season after Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o, Senegal forward Keita Balde, Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah and the Nigerian duo of Simy Nwankwo and Victor Osimhen.
Dia, however, stands out as the only African to reach the 15-goal mark in his debut season.
According to reports, Salernitana have agreed to trigger Dia’s buyout option for a fee of €12 million.
The club’s sporting director, Morgan De Sanctis, after the Fiorentina game affirmed Dia would be a permanent Salernitana player in the summer.
“We are in a strong situation and [Dia] is playing at an absolutely high level and doing some amazing things,” De Sanctis told DAZN.
“We have the conditions to keep him. I could use the mandatory clause and say that Dia will be 100% Salernitana on July 1st.”
15 – Boulaye Dia has become the 6th African player to score at least 15 goals in a Serie A campaign (after Eto'o, Keita Balde, Salah, Simy, and Osimhen), but the first among them to do so in his debut season in the Italian top-flight. Overwhelming.#SalernitanaFiorentina pic.twitter.com/TkoKsM7SaE
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) May 3, 2023
Salernitana are now unbeaten in their last 10 games, eight of them ending in draws.
The Stadio Arechi outfit sits in 14th place on the Serie A standings, eight points clear of the relegation zone.
