Italy’s national team is on the naughty step after its shock elimination from the World Cup play-offs by North Macedonia, but the peninsula does at least boast one of the best title races around this season.
AC Milan, Napoli and Inter Milan are locked in a three-way battle for the Scudetto that is proving impossibly difficult to call, while Juventus aren’t far behind either.
A lot of top players didn’t quite make the cut, but we’ve tried to have a variety of positions represented, while prioritising recent form over past achievements to gauge who's the best 'right now'.
10. Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
Gianluigi who? Perhaps the greatest compliment that can be paid to Mike Maignan is that there has been very little talk of Gigi Donnarumma around Milan since the Italy goalkeeper departed for PSG last summer.
The Frenchman has had a hugely impressive debut season in Italy since arriving from Lille, keeping 12 clean sheets in 25 Serie A games, including four in a row recently to help the Rossoneri cling on to top spot.
He even notched an assist against Sampdoria in February, while his clean sheet per game percentage of 48% is the best in the division among goalkeepers with more than four appearances.
9. Tammy Abraham (Roma)
It didn’t take long for Roma fans to fall in love with Tammy Abraham. If it wasn’t the striker singing along to the club anthem before kick-off that did it, it was his record-breaking goal return or his Rome Derby double.
Abraham recently surpassed Gabriel Batistuta and Vincenzo Montella to become the player with the most debut-season goals for the Lupi, with the former Chelsea man now on 23 in all competitions.
The England international's brace in a 3-0 derby win over Lazio last month further endeared him to the Giallorossi faithful, and he’s got better and better as time has gone on, with 11 of his 15 Serie A goals coming in his last 14 games.
8. Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan)
Brozovic is often the unsung hero for Inter, but the Croatia international has been a fundamental part of the Nerazzurri’s recent success.
The 29-year-old is the engine of the Inter machine, covering more distance than any other player in the league this season…and last season…and the season before that.
He’s also had more touches and successful passes (overall and in the opposition half) than any other Serie A midfielder since 2014/15, as well as the second-highest number of assist and third-most tackles in that period.
Brozovic’s incredible work-rate, tactical intelligence and ability to dictate from deep allow the flashier players to take the headlines.
7. Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo)
Even by his high standards, Berardi has been remarkably productive at Sassuolo this season under new coach Alessio Dionisi.
The winger already has a career-high 14 league assists to his name, while he’s scored 14 league goals, three shy of the personal best seasonal tally of 17 that he set last year.
Berardi has long been linked with a move to a bigger club without anything coming to fruition, but his superb recent form – the 27-year-old has four goals and four assists in his last six league games – will surely attract admirers once again this summer.
6. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio)
Milinkovic-Savic is enjoying his most productive season ever under Maurizio Sarri, and his recent form is a reminder of why he’s long been linked with some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
The Serbia international has been involved in more goals than any other midfielder in the league, scoring nine and assisting nine, but he's developed the defensive side of his game too.
The Lazio man boasts the third-highest average distance covered per match in Serie A, and sits at number nine in the rankings for ball recoveries, but seven of the eight players above him are defenders. He's become the complete midfielder.
5. Theo Hernandez (AC Milan)
Hernandez’s bombing runs from left-back have become a trademark of Stefano Pioli’s Milan side, with the Frenchman earning a well-deserved reputation as one of the best attacking full-backs in the business.
That has continued this season, with Hernandez producing four goals and six assists and continuing to surge through the middle of the pitch at will when given a chance, but the 24-year-old has worked on the defensive side of his game too under Pioli.
4. Victor Osimhen (Napoli)
Osimhen’s goals have been the ammunition to Napoli's assault on the league title this season, although the Nigerian has had another injury-disrupted year.
The 23-year-old was badly missed when he spent two months on the sidelines with a fractured cheek between November and January, but he’s been in formidable form since returning.
Osimhen has six goals in seven games since returning to the starting line-up at the beginning of February, including back-to-back braces in his last two games.
3. Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
The Lazio captain is on course to become only the second player to win four Serie A top scorer crowns, after 1950s AC Milan legend and five-time winner Gunnar Nordahl.
The striker may struggle in an Italy shirt, but his record at club level is impossible to argue with; he currently sits joint-top of the scoring charts alongside Dusan Vlahovic with 21 goals in 26 games, 15 of which have come from open play.
Since arriving at Lazio in 2016, Immobile’s club-record tally of 144 league goals has only been bettered by Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi in Europe’s top-five divisions. No wonder the Biancocelesti fans call him “King Ciro”.
2. Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus)
Vlahovic has taken some time to settle at Juventus since his £66.6 million January move from Fiorentina , but the Serbian has shown this season that he isn’t far from taking a place among Europe’s elite strikers.
He currently sits joint-top of the Serie A scoring charts, alongside Immobile with 21 goals, and a modest return of five goals in 12 Juve appearances can be forgiven as he finds his feet with an Old Lady side lacking creativity.
Nevertheless, the 22-year-old needed just 33 seconds to score on his Champions League debut against Villarreal in February, and his work-rate, movement and lethal finishing suggest there’s much more to come.
1. Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)
If Napoli are to win their first Serie A title since Diego Maradona was bamboozling defenders in a Partenopei shirt, Koulibaly will deserve a big share of the credit.
The Senegal international has long been considered among the best centre-backs in the world, a reputation that is well deserved for his strength, leadership and technical ability.
The mountainous defender, nicknamed ‘K2’, has quite simply mastered his position better than any other player in the league – and better than most defenders in the world.
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