Why Lautaro Martinez was left off Serie A striker of the year shortlist

While Serie A has been busy revealing the shortlists for the 2023-24 end of season awards, some may be wondering why the division’s top goalscorer, and the captain of the title-winning Inter, Lautaro Martinez, is not in the running for the striker of the year award.

The league’s rules state that each player can only be named in one category. Those categories include goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and striker of the year, as well as the young player of the season, as well as the overall MVP.

Though the Serie A MVP will not be announced until Friday, May 24, it is hard to imagine anyone other than Martinez picking up the flagship prize this time around.

In 2022-23, the Serie A MVP was taken home by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who in turn was not nominated for the striker of the year award. That prize was instead won by his teammate, Victor Osihmen.

In previous years, the MVP award has been collected by Rafael Leao, when Milan won the title in 2021-22, Romelu Lukaku when Inter won it the year prior, Paulo Dybala in 2019-20 – a theme is emerging – and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018-19, in the awards’ inaugural year.