Napoli’s run in the Italian Serie A this season has caught a lot of attention, and for very good reason.
The Partenopei would not be considered to be at the top of the table at this point of the season, with the usual suspects being the likes of Juventus, Inter Milan or reigning champions AC Milan.
Napoli have however held their forte at the top of the standings, losing just once all season and as things stand they don’t look like they’ll be coming down from there any time soon.
Indeed, the have shown superiority above every opponent as witnessed in their 5-1 bashing of Juve at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona last week. It was a sign of intent and as each game passes by, Luciano Spalletti’s men only seem to get stronger. One person that has been very crucial in this good run of form is Victor Osimhen.
The 24-year-old Nigerian has found the back of the net 14 times in competitive games, his latest coming in the 2-0 win at Salernitana last weekend. It extends his tally to 13 goals which is the most of any player in the Serie A this season. Just as Napoli are winning, so is Osimhen.
It’s worth noting he missed six competitive matches earlier in the season due to a muscle injury and if he had played in those games, there’s every likelihood his goal tally would be more than it is now. All these making a strong case for the former Lille man as a strong contender for the Ballon d’Or in future as suggested by ex-Nigeria international Jonathan Akpoborie in an Afrosport exclusive.
Italian Serie A top scorers:
🇳🇬 Victor Osimhen—13 goals
🇳🇬 Ademola Lookman—11 goalsThe only two players that have scored 10+ goals in Serie A so far this season ⏳
💪💪💪#ItalianSerieA #SerieA #NigeriaNow pic.twitter.com/ih2Bxo39qv
— AfroSport (@AfroSportTV) January 23, 2023
One man chasing Osimhen down for the Serie A top scorer award is his compatriot Ademola Lookman. The 25-year-old has been in top form since joining La Dea from Leipzig last summer with just 11 Serie A goals to his name. Lookman has been involved in eight goals (six goals, two assists) in his last three competitive matches. These were braces, the latest coming in Atalanta’s 3-3 draw with Juventus last Sunday.
Lookman’s form has been very vital for Atalanta who currently sit in sixth place and look poised to finish in the top four like they did in three consecutive seasons between 2018 and 2021. It will also continue Atalanta’s tradition of being a high-scoring side under Gian Piero Gasperini. They finished with most goals in Serie A in the three consecutive seasons they finished in the top four (2018-19 – 77 goals, 2019-20 – 98 goals, 2020-21 – 90 goals) and are the third highest-scoring team in the current campaign (37 goals) after Napoli (46 goals) and Inter Milan (38 goals).
10 – Ademola Lookman became the fourth Atalanta player to score 10+ goals after 19 matches in his very first Serie A campaign, after Jørgen Leschly Sørensen (1949/50), Karl Aage Hansen (1949/50) and Poul Rasmussen (1952/53). Quick.#JuveAtalanta pic.twitter.com/SYDjWCb84d
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) January 22, 2023
Osimhen and Lookman find themselves in a very peculiar position as no Nigerian or African has ever finished as top scorer in the Serie A. The closest any Nigerian has was Simy Nwankwo during the 2020-21 season, netting 20 goals which was nine less than Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally of 29 strikes. For other Africans, Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o is the highest scorer with 21 goals during the 2010-11 season but it was seven short of Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale.
Osimhen has shown promise from the moment he shined at the 2015 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Chile where he was top scorer with 10 goals. While his early stint at Wolfsburg didn’t really inspire, it was at Lille he did, finishing as Les Dogues top scorer with 13 goals which was the joint third highest in Ligue 1 alongside Brazil superstar Neymar, five short of PSG’s Kylian Mbappe and Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder. Osimhen’s performances ultimately earned him the Lille Player of the Season award and Prix Marc-Vivien Foe for best African player in Ligue 1.
It was hardly any surprise Napoli forked out £68 million to secure his services with instant comparisons made to Napoli legend Diego Maradona. With the Partenopei looking poised to win a first league title in 33 years when the late Argentine legend was representing them, its hard not to put Osimhen in the legend’s bracket especially if he finishes as top scorer.
Lookman meanwhile is having the most prolific stint of his career. His 11 goals Serie A goals for Atalanta is as many as he managed over the past five seasons in the Premier League playing for Everton (1), Fulham (4) and Leicester City (6). That’s a sign that the move to Atalanta was the right one for him especially as there was uncertainty about his qualities and what he really offers having failed to establish himself at his previous clubs.
L⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️KM🅰️🅰️N
La settimana di Ademola 👆@Alookman_'s week 👌🏾👀👌🏾#JuveAtalanta #GoAtalantaGo ⚫️🔵 pic.twitter.com/zKjxj1CPrK
— Atalanta B.C. (@Atalanta_BC) January 22, 2023
There’s no such problems for Lookman at Atalanta and if be continues to impress, it will only draw attention of the bigger European clubs. Osimhen is already linked with the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal and is reported to be worth more than £100 million.
Napoli like Atalanta are known to cash in on their best players and what a story it would be if Osimhen and Lookman ends up being one of the most expensive transfers in world football. That’s something usually associated with South American and European players such as Neymar (£198 million), Mbappe (£163 million), Philippe Coutinho (£105 million), Jack Grealish (£100 million) and more.
What a story it would be to have a Nigerian or African in that bracket as well. Already, Ivory Coast winger Nicolas Pepe is the most expensive African player transfer at £72 million while Osimhen is the next most expensive at £68 million. The Ultimate Strikers Academy graduate will likely cost double if not more of that amount if he departs Stadio Maradona in the near future.
The bigger picture is that it will put Nigeria back on the global map like in the time past when the country was beeming with talents that played in top clubs across Europe. Such is currently lacking but with what Osimhen and Lookman are doing week in week out in Campania and Lombardy respectively, the future could be bright for Nigerian football rather than bleak.
