Victor Osimhen: Is the Napoli star the world’s best striker?
By Aimee Lewis, CNN
Soccer star Victor Osimhen is enjoying a season that will live long in the memory.
So prolific has the Napoli forward been in helping his team dominate Italy’s Serie A, the striker is arguably currently the world’s best forward. He is certainly the most in-form striker in Europe’s top five leagues.
And if career stats are a marker — Osimhen could even be on his way to becoming an all-time great.
On Friday, the Nigeria international scored in Napoli’s 2-0 league win against Sassuolo for his 100th career goal, reaching triple figures quicker than either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, two current players, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland, have scored 100 career goals in fewer games than Osimhen. Those two forwards, of course, have a strong claim to being regarded as the world’s best attacker.
In Europe’s top five leagues – the English Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga — only Haaland, with 26 goals, has scored more than Osimhen this season.
The 24-year-old Osimhen, Napoli’s record signing when he joined from Ligue 1 side Lille in 2020, has scored 18 goals this campaign, six goals ahead of his nearest challenger for the Serie A Golden Boot. His 33rd-minute strike Friday was his seventh successive goal in Serie A.
He can score with either foot and is also dominant in the air so it is perhaps unsurprising that he is being linked with Europe’s richest clubs.
His form has been integral in Napoli’s remarkable season and the team looks likely to become Italian champion, leading Serie A by 18 points. It would only be the third title in Napoli’s history and the first since Diego Maradona led the club to league glory in the 1989-90 season.
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