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Italy's supreme league, Serie A, is widely considered to be home to high-quality defensive players and games. We can relate the same to the fact that the Italian national team and Serie A itself have yielded a bunch of the finest defenders of all time.
Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Fabio Cannavaro, Marco Marco Materazzi, the list just goes on. However, Serie A didn't just settle for the best of defenders. The Italian elite league came up with an answer in the form of attacking spearheads.
The beginning of this century saw Serie A produce lethal attackers. The likes of del Piero, Diego Milito, Kaka, Stephan El Shaarawy and Balotelli changed the way the world looked at Serie A. They scored goals for fun and made the games more exciting for the fans.
On the same note, let us take a look at the top 5 Serie A goal-scorers in the last decade.
#5 Paulo Dybala - 98 (Palermo/Juventus)
On number #5 we have got Argentina and Juventus' versatile forward Paulo Exequiel Dybala. Dybala has been a part of Serie A since the 2014-15 season.
However, the 23-year-old played in the top division for one season (2012-13) with Palermo prior to this one. The Sicilian outfit faced relegation the following season and earned a comeback the very next year after finishing 1st in Serie B.
Dybala played a crucial role for Palermo and earned a ticket to Turin to join league heavyweights Juventus. So far, he remains as one of the most important players at the club.
In addition to scoring goals, Paulo Dybala is the club's best link-up option alongside their biggest weapon that goes by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo.
#4 Dries Mertens - 102 (Napoli)
Another foreigner on the list is the Belgian international — Dries Mertens. The S.S.C Napoli's all-time Serie A top-scorer also happens to be their all-time top scorer across all competitions.
Dries Mertens demanded the role of centre-forward following their man Milik's ACL injury during the 2015-16 season. The Belgian adapted to the role quickly and achieved his best season with the club in subsequent years.
Mertens had the best season of his career so far in 2017, where he scored 28 league goals and helped the Gli Azzurri secure third spot in the table. The same year, the Belgian finished second behind Edin Džeko (29) in the golden boot race.
#3 Mauro Icardi - 121 (Sampdoria/Inter Milan)
Another Argentine on the list of top-scoring Serie A players — Mauro Icardi! But unlike his peers, Icardi hasn't featured much for his national side. Nevertheless, the Rosario-born forward has been stellar across club competitions.
Mauro Icardi was roped in by Inter Milan ahead of the 2013-14 season following Sampdoria's promotion to Serie A. It was a season where Icardi ended up as a key player for his then club.
The Argentine went on to spend six seasons with Inter Milan before switching to the French capital. He shared the 2017-18 Capocannoniere with Lazio's Ciro Immobile.
#2 Gonzalo Higuaín - 125 (Napoli/Juventus/AC Milan)
It is a known fact that goals followed wherever Higuaín went. The current MLS star arrived in Italy after a mouth-watering stint with European giants Real Madrid. Him losing the spot to Karim Benzema despite delivering as per the expectations left everyone amazed.
Nevertheless, Gonzalo Higuaín brought the same form to Serie A. After joining the Naples outfit, Higuaín's graph kept rising. A sensational 2015-16 season where the Argentine player found the net for a total of 36 off 35 games landed him a dream offer from Juve.
He won three Scudettos with the Old Lady. Following heavy competition for the attackers' role at Turin, Gonzalo Higuaín accepted an offer from Inter Miami.
Despite having departed for the MLS, Gonzalo Higuaín, till date, remains one of the best Serie A players of the past decade.
#1 Ciro Immobile -155 (Genoa/Torino/Lazio)
Thankfully for Serie A fans, the top spot is occupied by their homeboy. Ciro Immobile (the only Italian on the list) grabs the top most position on the podium.
After trying his luck with various clubs in different leagues, Immobile finally found his rhythm at Lazio. The striker hit a purple patch in the Biancocelesti outfit.
The current EURO 2020 champ has also won Capocannonieri (2018 & 2020) with Lazio. His second came after a season-long fierce battle with the best-ever Cristiano Ronaldo. The Azzuri striker finished the season with 36 goals (5 ahead of his competitor).
Ciruzzo, nicknamed by his admirers, is also Lazio's all-time top goal-getter across all competitions. The 31-year-old is just 20 goals shy of club legend Silvio Piola in becoming Lazio's all-time top scorer in the domestic league (Serie A).
That sums up our top five Serie A goalscorers from the past decade. Let us know your favorite player from this article in the comments section.
