New Serie A record puts Victor Osimhen ahead of Obafemi Martins, Nwankwo Kanu

The former Lille star can now lay claim to being the greatest Nigerian striker to ever play in the Italian top flight

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen scored three goals for Napoli in the club’s 4-0 demolition of Sassuolo on Saturday at the Diego Maradona Stadium.

It is Osimhen’s first ever hat-trick for any club since he turned pro. The Napoli forward has previously defended the badges of Germany’s Wolfsburg, Belgium’s Royal Sporting Charleroi, and France’s LOSC Lille.

And according to respected stats company Gracenote, Osimhen’s hat-trick is the first by a Nigerian striker in the Italian Serie A.

That is no mean feat, considering that Italy’s top flight has at different times been home to some of Nigeria’s finest attackers. That list includes former Inter Milan heroes Kanu Nwankwo, Obafemi Martins and Victor Moses, ex-Lazio man Ayodele Makinwa, and Simeon ‘Simy’ Nwankwo.

Just as importantly, Victor Osimhen, with his latest goal haul, has risen to become Nigeria’s most prolific goalscorer in Serie A history. With 31 goals, he now shares that title with former Crotone goal-king Simy.

It has taken Osimhen 59 matches to reach that milestone when Simy needed nearly twice that (101) to get his.

Currently in the form of his life, Osimhen has found the back of the net in each of his last four games against Ajax, Bologna, AS Roma, and Sassuolo.

The 23-year-old is also Serie A’s top goalscorer with seven goals while his Napoli sit atop the league table, six points clear of second place AC Milan.