Goal Hunt – The League’s Top Scorers
Unexpected breakthroughs, dominant strikers and new stars already shaping the present. We tell the story of the 2025/26 Serie A Enilive season through its goalscorers: fewer total goals than in previous years, but a wealth of different profiles and styles that made the race for goals unpredictable right up to the final matchday.
Leading them all once again was Lautaro Martínez. Behind the Inter Milan captain, however, emerged a mosaic of very different stories: the devastating mid-season impact of Donyell Malen, the breakthrough campaign of Anastasios Douvikas with Como 1907, the decisive survival goals scored by Mateo Pellegrino, and the rise of the young talents led by Kenan Yıldız.
Lautaro Martínez, the captain who entered the history books
Lautaro Martínez led Inter Milan to the 21st Scudetto in the club’s history, winning the Serie A top scorer title for the second time in his career, as well as the 2025/26 Best Striker award.
His 17 goals, however, also represent a historic statistic: never in the era of 20-team Serie A and three points for a win era had the league’s top scorer finished with such a low tally. To find a capocannoniere with fewer goals, you’d have to go all the way back to the 1987/88 season, when Diego Maradona won the scoring charts with 15 goals in a 16-team Serie A. In the new millennium, the previous lowest mark had been the 21 goals scored by Alessandro Del Piero in 2007/08 season.
Lautaro dominated the league through the decisive weight of his performances: 17 goals and 6 assists in 29 appearances, including a league-leading 10 opening goals that put Inter ahead and paved the way for hugely important victories in the Scudetto race. The Nerazzurri captain once again displayed the full range of his qualities as a complete forward: eight goals with his right foot, five with his left and four headers, all scored inside the penalty area. Remarkably, 10 of his 13 open-play goals came from first-time finishes, a trademark of “El Toro” and a sign of his ruthlessness in front of goal. His six assists also represent the best creative tally of his Inter career.
It was also the season that projected him even deeper into the history of the Nerazzurri club: Lautaro surpassed Roberto Boninsegna in Inter’s all-time scoring rankings across all competitions, becoming the third-highest goalscorer in the club’s history with 175 goals.
Donyell Malen, the hurricane that transformed AS Roma
If Lautaro Martínez ruled the league, Donyell Malen shook it to its core. Arriving at AS Roma during the winter transfer window, the Dutch forward had a simply devastating impact: 14 goals in 18 appearances, astonishing numbers that completely transformed the Giallorossi attack. Since the introduction of the winter transfer market, no player had ever scored so many goals in Serie A after a January move. He surpassed the previous record held by Mario Balotelli, who scored 12 goals with AC Milan in the 2012/13 season.
Among players with fewer than 20 appearances in the three-points-for-a-win era, only Ronaldo Nazário (14 in 19 during the 1998/99 season) and Zlatan Ibrahimović (15 in 19 during the 2020/21 season) boast a comparable scoring average.
The impression was of a forward capable of changing the balance of matches on his own: explosive acceleration, devastating ball-carrying in open space, killer instinct in front of goal and a rare level of technical quality at top speed. Malen turned attacking depth into a lethal weapon for Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma.
Advanced statistics also confirmed an extraordinary level of performance: one goal every five shots attempted and an average of 0.78 goals per match, the best in the league. Making his impact even more impressive was his ability to dominate games almost single-handedly: four multi-goal performances, more than any other player in Serie A. .
Anastasios Douvikas and the fairytale Como 1907
Behind Lautaro Martínez and level on goals with Donyell Malen, the biggest revelation of the season was Anastasios Douvikas. With 14 goals, the Greek striker born in 1999 led Como 1907 to a historic Champions League qualification, becoming the second-highest Greek scorer in Serie A history behind only Zisis Vryzas.
After a first season by the lake as a supporting figure, Douvikas made a huge leap forward, perfectly embodying the aggressive and attacking football demanded by Cesc Fàbregas. Constant pressing, attacking depth, tireless work and ruthless finishing inside the box turned the Greek forward into the attacking reference point of one of the league’s most entertaining sides.
In 2026, only Malen scored more goals than him. His 10 goals in the new calendar year powered Como’s extraordinary European push. The numbers describe a clinical striker: outperforming his expected goals tally with 13 open-play goals given his 10.61 xG, and scoring 14 goals overall from just 31 shots on target.
Marcus Thuram, the man of the Scudetto sprint
Marcus Thuram carried Inter Milan during the period of greatest pressure, igniting the engine at the decisive moment of the Nerazzurri season. After the derby defeat against AC Milan and draws against Atalanta and Fiorentina, the French striker took responsibility for the attacking burden in Cristian Chivu’s side: six goals and two assists in the five matches that ultimately shaped the title race.
From the victory over Roma to the title-clinching match against Parma, Thuram was devastating. Nine of his 13 league goals came in 2026, with a sensational month of April. Thanks to his scoring consistency, he became only the second European Inter player in the three-points-for-a-win era to score in at least five consecutive Serie A appearances, after Christian Vieri.
Thuram also entered a very exclusive group of European forwards capable of scoring at least 13 goals in each of the last three seasons across Europe’s top five leagues.
Rasmus Højlund, Napoli****’s complete centre-forward
Rasmus Højlund’s return to Serie A definitively established the Danish striker’s place among the elite.
With 12 goals, the former Atalanta BC forward produced the best league campaign of his career, becoming the undisputed attacking reference point for SSC Napoli. Antonio Conte made him the centrepiece of a dynamic and vertical attack, maximising his ability to combine hold-up play, attacking space and working for the team.
No player influenced his team’s points tally more directly than him: an incredible 16 points won thanks to his goals. Every one of his strikes came from inside the penalty area, distributed almost perfectly between right foot, left foot, headers and penalties — the ideal portrait of a modern and complete centre-forward.
Giovanni Simeone, Mateo Pellegrino and Keinan Davis: the weight of goals outside the spotlight
Among the most fascinating stories of the season were those of the strikers battling in the lower reaches of the table.
Giovanni Simeone (11 goals) kept Torino FC away from the most dangerous positions with the fifth double-digit Serie A campaign of his career. He was especially decisive at the Stadio Grande Torino under Roberto D'Aversa, becoming the first Torino player since Marco Ferrante to score in five consecutive home matches. In aerial play, “El Cholito” remains a certainty: since his Serie A debut in 2016/17, only Duván Zapata, Leonardo Pavoletti and Lautaro have scored more headed goals than him (21).
Mateo Pellegrino dominated aerial play like no other striker in Serie A. His six headed goals represented the league’s best tally and Parma’s highest such total in nearly twenty years. Even more impressive was the percentage: eight of his 12 goals in Italy came with his head, 67%, a record among Serie A strikers reaching double digits since the 2004/05 season.
The Argentine had a huge impact on Parma Calcio 1913’s survival battle, contributing directly to 32% of the team’s goals (nine out of 28) and carrying the side during the most delicate moments of the campaign. Unsurprisingly, his goals earned Parma 13 points, the second-best tally in the league. But Pellegrino’s value extended far beyond goals: he was Parma’s first “offensive defender”, the symbol of a side that relied on his physicality to move up the pitch, breathe and survive.
His league-high 87 fouls committed perfectly reflected his ferocious style of play. Pellegrino contested more aerial duels than anyone else in Serie A, functioning both as an attacking outlet and as the first defensive shield for Carlos Cuesta’s side.
Keinan Davis also left a deep mark on Udinese Calcio’s season. Kosta Runjaić built a style based on transitions, open-field attacks and physical duels around him, and the Englishman responded with 10 goals, becoming only the fourth English player ever to reach double digits in a Serie A season.
The Italians reach double figures
Federico Bonazzoli, Gianluca Scamacca and Riccardo Orsolini shared the title of top Italian scorers in the league with 10 goals each.
Federico Bonazzoli finished the season as US Cremonese’s top scorer, trying until the very end to lead the Grigiorossi towards survival. The former Inter player’s campaign began with a spectacular bicycle kick at San Siro against AC Milan, voted Iliad Goal of the Month for August, and continued with moments of brilliance and total responsibility on his shoulders. Bonazzoli simultaneously acted as finisher, attacking outlet and reference point for Cremonese, finishing as the third-most fouled player in the league (80 fouls won).
Gianluca Scamacca ended as Atalanta BC’s top scorer despite playing only 24 matches and just over 1,300 minutes. Three braces showed an increasingly established habit of scoring multiple goals: since his first Serie A season, among Italians only Domenico Berardi has produced more braces or hat-tricks than him (nine).
Riccardo Orsolini, meanwhile, continues to be one of the most reliable certainties in Italian football. With Bologna FC 1909 he reached double figures for the fourth consecutive season, a feat previously achieved only by Marco Di Vaio in the club’s modern history.
Armand Laurienté****, Jesús Rodríguez and the creators
Not only finishers. Serie A Enilive 2025/26 also highlighted forwards capable of creating football. Armand Laurienté and Jesús Rodríguez topped the assist rankings among forwards with nine assists each; only Federico Dimarco recorded more across the entire league.
Laurienté contributed to 16 Sassuolo goals, becoming, together with Dimarco, one of only two players in the league with at least seven goals and seven assists. The Frenchman also produced the fourth-best finishing overperformance in the division, outperforming his expected goals by +3.73.
Jesús Rodríguez, meanwhile, illuminated Como with quality, imagination and constant creativity, finishing as the league’s best young player for attacking contributions (eleven) behind only Kenan Yıldız.
Kenan Yıldız and Francesco Pio Esposito: the future is already here
Kenan Yıldız confirmed himself as one of the most electrifying attacking talents in European football. Ten goals and six assists for Juventus FC’s number 10 made him the first foreign Under-21 player in the club’s history to reach double digits in Serie A. More than a classic striker, Yıldız is a constant creator of football. No player attempted more dribbles in the league than him: 153, almost five per match, including a stunning peak of eleven attempts against Cagliari.
The Turkish talent also showed a unique ability to ignite play between the lines, as demonstrated by his league-second tally of 69 key passes.
Behind him, Francesco Pio Esposito also made his mark, producing ten attacking contributions (seven goals and three assists) in his first real impact season in Serie A, confirming he has everything needed to become one of the future attacking reference points for Inter and Italian football.
Among the newcomers, Christopher Nkunku also stood out in many ways. The AC Milan forward ended the campaign with five goals from the penalty spot, becoming only the second Rossoneri player in the last ten years of Serie A to score at least five penalties in a single season. Together with Nikola Vlašić, Nkunku was the most reliable penalty taker in the league, flawless in moments of maximum pressure.
At AC Milan, Rafael Leão also impressed: his three goals from outside the box represented the best tally among Serie A forwards, shared with Jens Odgaard of Bologna.
