Simeon Nwankwo again defied the doubters with another record-breaking season in Italy this time in Serie A, where he fired 20 goals to emerge as the most prolific Nigerian player in the Italian top flight.
The old record was held by Obafemi Martins, who scored 11 goals for Inter Milan.
The previous season ‘Simy’ also netted 20 goals to ensure FC Crotone made a prompt return to Serie A.
“The truth is that all these numbers are nice, but I’ve never been a person who thinks about these things,” said the striker known for his humility.
“It’s nice to hear that you have made great numbers and broken records of important players.”
The critics have also described the 29-year-old centre-forward as clumsy and awkward, but he has insisted those tags do not bother him.
His goals have as expected attracted interests from Serie A clubs like Fiorentina and Genoa as well as across the major leagues in Europe.
Even his coach at Crotone has admitted this proven goals machine is too good to play again in the Italian Serie B.
“He will leave Crotone for a better situation,” Serse Cosmi stated.
“I don’t think he will stay in Serie B, he deserves to play on stages like this (Serie A) or to go abroad.
“It is not easy to understand his potential if not looking at the numbers: last year he scored 20 goals, this year he is on course to scoring as many.
“He has an incredible ice-cold composure in front of goal.”
His transfer market value is put at eight Million Euros.
He has so far won four caps with the Super Eagles and following his recent recall for the Cameroon friendlies in Austria, it would be safe to say he will soon add more caps to his name.