Can Lautaro Martinez Enter Inter Milan Top Five All-Time Top Goalscorers This Season? | OneFootball

Inter has always had a prolific striker, a forward who strikes fear into the hearts of opposition defenders. The likes of Giuseppe Meazza, Alessandro Altobelli, and Roberto Boninsegna are rightly regarded as Nerazzurri legends, although they played in a bygone era.

The modern game demands a different kind of hitman, and the San Siro faithful have one of the world’s best to cheer on: Lautaro Martinez.

Martinez started his professional career in 2015 as a fresh-faced 18-year-old in his native Argentina. Although Racing Club used Martinez sparingly during his first two seasons, he became a regular in the team during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, scoring 27 goals in 60 appearances. His eye for goal and ability to link up play attracted the attention of some of world football’s biggest clubs. Still, Inter beat everyone to his signature after agreeing to pay €22.7 million.

The diminutive striker scored nine goals in 35 appearances in all competitions during his debut season with Inter as he adapted to the nuances of Italian and European football. He found his feet during the 2019-20 campaign, scoring 21 goals in 49 games, including five in six UEFA Champions League appearances. Many pundits and players began comparing Martinez to compatriot Sergio Aguero, while the Argentinian found his name toward the top of the top goalscorer markets at www.onlinesportsbetting.net.

Lautaro Martinez Is Inter Milan’s Seventh Most Prolific Striker Ever

Following his breakout season, Martinez has never looked back. He has scored at least 20 goals in four of the past five seasons, including at least 21 Serie A goals in his last three campaigns. Including the six goals in 18 appearances in 2024-25, Martinez has scored an impressive 135 goals in 300 games in Inter’s famous black and blue kit.

Martinez’s excellent scoring record places him in seventh in Inter’s all-time goalscorer standings. He has more goals than Christian Vieri (123), Mauro Icardi (124), and Istvan Nyers (133). At the time of writing, Martinez is only eight goals away from leapfrogging Bonito Lorenzi (143) into sixth place and 23 goals away from climbing into the top five at the expense of Luigi Cevenini III (158).

Since joining Inter, Martinez has averaged 0.46 goals per game and 47 appearances per season, including cup and European competitions. If the Argentinian continues in a similar vein of form, he should notch up at least 21 goals this season, which would be almost enough for him to climb to fifth place in this incredible club’s all-time top goalscorer rankings. Should he match his impressive tally of 24 Serie A goals from last year, our captain will tie with Cevenini in fifth place.

How Does Lautaro Martinez Compare To Other Inter Greats?

Martinez’s 135 goals in 300 games averages out at 0.45 goals per game, an impressive figure by anyone’s standards. It is the same average Bentino Lorenzi enjoyed when he scored 143 goals in 314 appearances between 1947 and 1958.

However, despite averaging a goal every two games, Martinez has some ground to make up regarding Luigi Cevenini III‘s quite ridiculous scoring rate. Cevenini played 190 games for Inter across three spells and managed to score 158 goals, an average of 0.83 goals per game. When one considers Cevenini played throughout the 1910s and 1920s, his goalscoring record is even more impressive.

Sandro Mazzola spent his entire 17-year career with Inter between 1960 and 1977. According to Inter’s official website, Mazzola scored 158 goals in 565 appearances for an average of 0.28 goals per game. Although Mazzola was often deployed as a forward, he spent a significant period of his career playing as an attacking midfielder, which makes his goal tally extraordinary.

During the late 1960s and through to 1976, Inter fans got to see Roberto Boninsegna in his prime. Boninsegna was an athletic and acrobatic striker who excelled in the air despite only standing five feet ten inches tall. Through 287 appearances for the Nerrazurri, Boninsegna racked up 171 goals.

The Only Two Players With More Than 200 Inter Goals

Only two players have scored at least 200 goals for Inter since the club’s formation in 1908. Alessandro Altobelli arrived at Inter in 1997 and went on to make 466 appearances for the club. Nicknamed “Spillo” because of his slender frame, Altobelli scored 209 goals in Inter colors, including an Italian record of 56 goals in 93 Coppa Italia appearances. Altobelli’s 293 career goals rank him the tenth highest-scoring Italian player of all time.

It does not take a genius to work out who Inter’s all-time leading scorer is; it is the man our iconic stadium is named after. Giuseppe Meazza played 408 games for Inter and scored 284 goals, averaging 0.7 goals per game. His 338 career goals place him third in Italy’s all-time scoring charts, while his 33 goals in 53 games for the Italian national side helped Italy win back-to-back World Cups in 1934 and 1938. Meazza is a legend in every sense of the word.

Lautaro Martinez Could Eventually Become Inter Milan’s Top Scorer

Martinez signed a contract extension in August 2024 that ties him to the club until the end of the 2028-29 season. While a lot can happen in four-and-a-half years, especially in football, it is highly likely that Martinez will continue to find the back of the net with alarming regularity.

The Inter club captain is currently 67 goals away from becoming only the third Inter player in history to score 200 goals from the club and 149 away from becoming the all-time leading scorer. That last figure initially seems a million miles away but not outside the realms of possibility.

Regardless of setting individual records, Inter fans will hope Martinez continues scoring goals, creating chances for teammates, and helping the Nerrazurri to more Scudetos before he calls time on his illustrious career.