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#3 Victor Osimhen | Napoli
After a lone season with Lille, where the striker scored 18 and assisted six, Victor Osimhen was picked up by Napoli ahead of the 20-21 campaign. Signed for a club-record fee of €70 million, Osimhen was given a role to deputize for Dries Mertens and eventually take over from the Belgian international.
However, the Nigerian striker struggled with injuries and COVID-19 in his maiden campaign with the Italian giants. Nevertheless, he mustered 16 starts in the league and eight more from the bench. Osimhen recorded a respectable tally of ten goals and three assists in his debut season, given his fitness woes.
Recently appointed Napoli coach, Luciano Spaletti, had nothing but praise for the 22-year-old striker, telling the club's website:
"Osimhen is a striker who has the ability to transform every ball that comes his way into chances. He is a generous player who runs a lot, and every now and then this intense race can cause him (to make) some mistakes, but he is an important player, complete, and we aim a lot on him."
Osimhen netted four in the Parthenopeans' first pre-season friendly under Spaletti, against local side Anaunia.
#2 Tammy Abraham | Chelsea
Tammy Abraham may be one of the most unlucky prospects to graduate from Chelsea's famed academy.
At just 23, the stats recorded by the English international are downright scary. In just 266 career appearances (including youth team games) in club football, Abraham has accumulated 125 goals and 32 assists. Nevertheless, the young striker finds himself on the fringes of the Chelsea squad.
While Thomas Tuchel's arrival sparked a massive upturn in the Blues' fortunes, it meant the opposite for Abraham. He was a regular starter under Frank Lampard and was his side's top scorer at the time of Tuchel's appointment. However, due to a change in tactics, Abraham found himself ostracised from the team and ended the term with 22 league appearances, ten of them as a substitute.
Having scored 12 and assisted six in a tumultuous season, Tammy Abraham has established himself as a proven goalscorer in the top flight. As a result, the striker has no shortage of suitors, with West Ham United, Arsenal and his former employers Aston Villa reportedly interested in his services.
#1 Luis Muriel | Atalanta
Gian Piero Gasperini completed another successful season at the helm of Atalanta, leading his side to third place for the third consecutive campaign.
It is interesting to note that a player with 20 substitute appearances and just 16 starts ended up as their top goalscorer last season, that too by some distance. Compared to his teammates Duvan Zapata (29 starts and eight substitute appearances) and Josip Ilicic (17 starts and 11 substitute appearances), Luis Muriel produced a considerably better output.
Deployed as the sole striker or as part of two, Muriel was subject to a lot of rotation under Gasperini. Nevertheless, the Colombian international still managed to score a whopping tally of 22 goals, ending his season as the third-highest goalscorer in Serie A, behind only Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo. Muriel even pitched in with nine league assists to cap off a brilliant individual season.
A quintessential journeyman, the 30-year-old striker joined Atalanta in 2019, marking his eighth club in his 12-year professional career. After piling up a monstrous goal tally in his two seasons at the Gewiss Stadium, Muriel will look to have an extended starting role under Gasperini in the upcoming seasons.
