Lookman seeking to overtake Simy as Nigeria’s second all-time Serie A top scorer

Ademola Lookman will be seeking to score his third Serie A brace of the season when he visits the Stadio Olimpico where his side, Atalanta will be guest of Fisayo Dele-Bashiru’s SS Lazio on Saturday.

The Nigerian, 27, has scored 33 goals in 76 Serie A appearances since he joined the La Dea in August, 2022, and will hope to score for the 10th time in the competition this season to not only help Atalanta retain their status as first on the log, but also make it double digits of goals in the Serie A for the third season in a row.

Lookman scored 13 goals in 31 appearances in his debut season in the competition (2022/23) and reached double figures the following season (2023/24) with 11 goals in 31 games.

The Super Eagle has scored nine times in just 14 appearances this season, a goal on Saturday will ensure he reached at least 10 goals in each of the last three seasons.

It will also be his first goal in four appearances against Lazio as well as become the second joint Nigerian top scorer in the history of the competition with Simy Nwankwo who scored 34 goals in 116 games.

If Lookman nets a brace for the third time this season, it will take his tally to 35 from 77 games, 39 games less than Simy has played.

It will make his stand alone as Nigeria’s second top scorer in Serie A history behind Victor Osimhen who netted 65 times in 108 games before leaving Napoli on loan to Turkish Super Lig side, Galatasaray.

Lookman will also be looking to score his 45th goal across all competitions for Atalanta.

He has 12 goals and five assists in 20 matches this season. He has 44 goals and 23 assists in 98 overall games for Atalanta to reach an impressive tally of 67 goal contributions.