Serie A sees lowest top scorer total since Maradona era | OneFootball

Italian football is not exactly enjoying its finest moment. While the national team faces another painful absence from the FIFA World Cup 2026, the scoring numbers in Serie A have also highlighted a clear lack of attacking firepower.

 Lautaro Martínez helped Inter Milan cruise to the league title with three games to spare and finished as Serie A’s top scorer, but his tally of 17 goals was remarkably low by modern standards. In fact, it is the smallest total for a Capocannoniere since the 1987/88 campaign, when Diego Maradona topped the charts with just 15 goals for Napoli.

There is an important difference, though. Back then, Serie A was a 30-game season. Maradona scored 15 goals in 28 appearances, averaging 0.53 goals per match, while Lautaro managed 17 in 30 games this season, averaging 0.56.

It is the second time Lautaro has finished as Serie A’s leading scorer, having also done so in 2023/24 with a far more impressive 24 goals.

The lack of elite goalscorers is also becoming a problem for Italy national football team. Last season’s top scorer, Mateo Retegui, was born in Argentina and later moved to Saudi Arabia after netting 25 league goals. This season, the highest-scoring Italian-born player was Gianluca Scamacca of Atalanta with only 10 goals.

The last Italian-born player to win the Serie A scoring title was Ciro Immobile for Lazio back in 2021/22.