Napoli goal poacher and Nigeria international striker Victor Osimhen has been picked as the current best striker in the world following a rash of goals for Napoli in the on-going Serie A campaign.
The 24-year-old Osimhen on Saturday notched his 19th league goal of the season in his side’s 2-0 victory at Empoli but it’s the manner of his goal-scoring art that has now elicited comparison with other notable strikers.
Though Manchester City’s Erling Haaland is the only striker that has scored more goals than Osimhen in Europe, Italian football expert Jurre van Wanrooij noted that the Nigerian is streets ahead of his contemporaries judging by the way and manner he has recorded some of his goals.
“Victor Osimhen is not your regular goal scorer; he is the most complete striker in football,” Wanrooij argued as per getfootballnewsitaly.com. “Osimhen is strong in the air and on the ground, which he demonstrated against Sassuolo last weekend, holding off two defenders near the edge of the box and smashing it in the near corner.
“The stats further prove this, as Osimhen wins 63 percent of his aerial duels and completes 73 percent progressive carries,” he added.
He further drew a comparative analysis between Osimhen and Haaland: “Osimhen also holds his own when compared to other top forwards across Europe- like Manchester City’s Erling Haaland for example.
“When looking at their performances on domestic level, Haaland has four more goals than the Nigerian if you exclude penalties (which Osimhen doesn’t take).
“Note that the Norwegian striker also played four more matches than Osimhen. While Haaland is at 0.92 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes, Osimhen’s tally stands at 0.90.”
Meanwhile, Haaland is reportedly ahead of Osimhen in the European Golden Shoe standings.
The Nigeria international has scored in each of his last eight Serie A appearances, nine across all competitions, and has now 19 goals in 20 league matches.
Considering a coefficient of two points per goal, Osimhen has 38 points in the European Golden Shoe standings, sitting second behind Haaland.
The Norway international has scored 27 Premier League goals so far and has 54 points.
His compatriot Amahl Pellegrino, playing for Bodo/Glimt, sits third. The coefficient for the Norwegian league is 1.5 so this means Pellegrino has 37.5 points thanks to his 25 goals scored.
Tottenham’s Harry Kane has 34 points (17 goals) followed by Enner Valencia (22 goals, 33 points) and Robert Lewandowski (15 goals, 30 points).
The first Serie A representative after Osimhen is Inter‘s Lautaro Martinez who sits 16th along with Neymar and Bobur Abdikholikov of Kazakhi side Ordabasy. Lautaro has 26 points thanks to his 13 Serie A goals.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
