Osimhen Emerges Serie A’s Player Of The Month

• Beats Diaz, Barella to September Award

Napoli and Super Eagles’ forward Victor Osimhen has been named Serie A’s Player of the Month for September following his blistering start to the 2021-22 season.

The Nigerian international enjoyed a fine goalscoring run in the month under review and in the process steered the Parthenopeans to the summit of the Italian top-flight.

In winning the award organised by the Italian Footballers’ Association, the 22-year-old striker beat Inter Milan midfielder, Nicolo Barella; AC Milan’s Brahim Diaz; and Fiorentina’s Giacomo Bonaventura.

Osimhen recovered from his disappointing performance against Venezia in Napoli’s opening game of the season when he received a red card in the first half. Across all competitions, the Nigerian scored seven goals in six matches for Luciano Spalletti’s side in September, including four Serie A goals.

After failing to hit the target in Napoli’s 2-1 victory over Juventus on September 11, the former Lille striker scored at least a goal in each of the three league matches he played later. Opening his goal account for the season with a goal in the Parthenopeans’ 4-0 thrashing of Udinese, Osimhen followed with a brace in another 4-0 win over Sampdoria, and he scored again in their 2-0 defeat of Cagliari.

“Sent to the vote by the editorial team of the Last Man, together with other decisive players in the good start of their teams (Barella, Brahim Diaz, and Bonaventura), Osimhen won with more than half of the total votes,” read a statement on AIC website.

“If what the fans, all the fans, want is for their centre-forward to be a moving train, well no one in Serie A comes closer than him to embody this ideal. Despite some inaccuracies, Victor Osimhen makes the difference thanks to that desire, that hunger, that anger, which seems to push him, blow him from behind like a wind always in his favour.”

With four goals in six matches, Osimhen’s brilliance in front of goal powered Napoli to the top of the Serie A table and they are yet to drop a point with 21 points from seven games.

After the international break, the 22-year-old will be hoping to lead Napoli’s frontline as they are scheduled to host Torino on October 17.