Crotone of Italy striker, Simeon Tochukwu Nwankwo (Simy) notched home his 16thg goal of the season on Saturday, just few hours after he downplayed recent reports about a likely transfer to Genoa in the Land of The Azzurri, and insisted that all his attention remains on his current team.
Simy notched home his 16th goal of the season on Saturday, but the Pythagoreans lost 3-2 to Spezia in an Italian elite division outing at Stadio Alberto Picco, where he initially put his team ahead with a 78th-minute strike.
The lanky star’s goal, which came courtesy an assist by Niccolo Zanellato, was not enough to save the day for his side, as they forfeited all three points with late goals from Giulio Maggiore and Martin Erlic that handed Vincenzo Italiano’s squad victory.
Megasportsarena.com reports that Simy’s haul of goals in the ongoing Serie A campaign takes him just one short of the Nigerian record held by Yakubu Ayegbeni, as top scorer in a single season across the top-five European Leagues.
A 17-goal-feat by Yak with Blackburn Rovers in 2011/12 is what Simy is just a notch away from, but he faces similar plight like the former Super Eagles’ attacker, who could not rescue Steve Kean’s men from getting demoted to the English Championship after they finished in 19th place.
Although Crotone are facing the gloomy prospect of returning to the lower level Italian Serie B after just one season back in the top-flight, ‘Simy’ stressed that he is not in any hurry to dump the club that shot him into limelight.
With loyalty at the top of his mind, the former Gil Vicente of Portugal giant buttressed that he is thinking only about the immediate task of saving Crotone from relegation, which appears unlikely, despite him being in the best form of his career, with goals in his last five consecutive matches taking his tally to 15 for the season.
Despite Crotone looking doomed to relegation, there is no disparaging from Simy, who disclosed that former Super Eagles’ captain, Nwankwo Kanu is his hero, with inspirational successes at Ajax Amsterdam of Holland, Inter Milan of Italy as well as Arsenal and Portsmouth of England.
The lanky star, who was part of Nigeria’s squad to Russia 2018 World Cup and played two cameo roles as a substitute, has been linked with a move to Genoa this summer, among a growing number of top-flight suitors in and outside Italy, but Simy posited that he is not excited by it all.
Simy told Tuttomercatoweb: “It’s not something that interests me, I’m a Crotone player and I’m very proud of that. I’ve been here for five years, from the first moment I felt at home and I can’t think of anything else.
“I have a contract with Crotone, I am calm and I am very happy to be part of this club. Kanu (is) my old idol. He has won wherever he has played. Ajax, Arsenal, Inter, Portsmouth. For me Kanu is everything: it is my point of reference, my inspiration.”
