Nigerian football fans will have a number of Super Eagles to cheer on this season in their quest for silverware.
Zaidu Sanusi’s Porto will be looking to wrestle back the Portuguese Primeira Liga title from Benfica, while Wilfred Ndidi’s Leicester City are favorites to win the English Championship following their relegation from the Premier League.
But it’s in Italy where most of the interest will be, with reigning champions Napoli – home to Nigerian frontman Victor Osimhen – hoping to successfully defend their Serie A title.
However, they will face intense opposition from the likes of Inter, Juventus and AC Milan, who this summer signed the soaring Super Eagle, Samuel Chukwueze.
. @chukwueze_8 🇳🇬❤️ pic.twitter.com/igwStcBe6N
— Victor Osimhen (@victorosimhen9) June 14, 2023
So which of these exciting Nigerian forwards will come out on top?
Goals Galore
Having notched 26 of Napoli’s 77 goals in 2022/23, it’s clear how important Osimhen is to their success.
One of the hottest prospects in world football, the Super Eagle has been linked with a move to pastures new in the European summer, but for now it looks as though Osimhen will be staying in Naples for the foreseeable future.
Napoli have sold commanding centre back Min-jae Kim to Bayern Munich, while bringing in Giovanni Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori, so Osimhen will have more support in attack this term.
But the loss of head coach Luciano Spalletti, who masterminded their Serie A title win, could be difficult to overcome. His replacement, Rudi Garcia, once won ten games in a row as manager of Roma and has a Ligue 1 triumph to his name with Lille, but Spalletti embodied both the spirit of Napoli as a football club and Naples as a place – he will be sorely missed.
However, Napoli (3/1) are still amongst the favorites for the title once more with sportsbooks like bet365 and Betano. These sites offer Serie A odds for Inter Milan (7/4), Juventus (10/3) and AC Milan (5/1), plus price boosts and live streaming of Italian football. Via Promotion NG, customers can also claim a welcome bonus and use ongoing offers in their betting, too.
But is there a better option for your Serie A bets?
Samuel Soars
A fee of $22 million, with a reported $8 million in performance-related add-ons, was what it took for AC Milan to secure the signing of Samuel Chukwueze from Villarreal.
That could prove to be a bargain, particularly as the 24-year-old enjoyed the best season of his career in 2022/23, with eleven goal involvements in La Liga.
Milan have spent the best part of $120 million on new talent in the transfer window, with Chukwueze joining Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Tijjani Reijnders, Noah Okafor and Ruben Loftus-Cheek through the entrance of the San Siro.
What an honour to join this historic football club. Can’t wait to get started! ❤️🖤 #ForzaMilan pic.twitter.com/QKblQhvANu
— Ruben Loftus-Cheek (@RLC) July 4, 2023
That’s a real statement of intent for a club that finished some 20 points behind Napoli last season, with the Rossoneri very keen to bridge that gap as soon as possible.
Either way, it appears as if Nigeria will have two players battling it out for glory in Serie A this season. Ahead of AFCON 2023 in January, that can be no bad thing…
