Opinion: Why Ciro Immobile is one of the best strikers in Europe
With 27 goals in 26 appearances this season, more than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Ciro Immobile has been one of the deadliest strikers in Europe this season. However, despite dominating the Serie A scoring charts over the last few years, Immobile is rarely mentioned in the conversation of top strikers which has perhaps prevented a big move for the Lazio man. What's more, the Italian has scored a goal every 72 minutes in the Serie A this season which is a better minutes per goal ratio than Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and even the ever clinical Robert Lewandowski this season. Although, this does beg the question, why hasn't Ciro Immobile's big move happened yet?
Well, to answer the question, Ciro Immobile's previous failed transfers to the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla have prevented him from securing a big move after failing to impress on the biggest of stages earlier on in his career. The failed transfers also left the 29-year old's reputation tarnished with a lack of goals in both the Bundesliga and La Liga leaving big moves to either league in the future unlikely. In contrast to his clinical nature in the Serie A, Ciro Immobile managed to score just 3 goals in 24 Bundesliga appearances during his time at Borussia Dortmund. Adding to this, the striker didn't enjoy a great time in Spain either with just 2 goals in 8 appearances during a loan spell at Sevilla, leaving his next career move a crucial one. And as it turned out, Lazio got themselves a bargain when they picked up the out of form forward, which has only been backed up with the stats since his transfer in 2016.
In fact, since his arrival in 2016, Immobile has scored 112 goals in 161 appearances, more goals for Lazio than the legendary Simone Inzaghi and Miroslav Klose who have 63 and 58 respectively. This leaves Immobile 4th in the all-time goal-scoring charts and only 33 goals away from Silvio Piola who sits top with 145 who Immobile will likely surpass to become a Lazio legend and one of the greatest goal scorers the Italian side has ever seen donning their jersey.
To conclude, after failing to impress in both the Bundesliga and La Liga, Ciro Immobile has finally found his place in the Serie A where he has become one of the most clinical strikers in Europe, outscoring both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi this season. He ought to be in conversation when the deadliest strikers debate is up among football fans.
Note: The opinion is that of the author and doesn't necessarily reflect Sportskeeda's
Also read: Serie A 2019-20 | Ciro Immobile extends lead over Cristiano Ronaldo in golden boot race