Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye came as close as any Nigerian has ever come to winning the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year award, finishing as runner up to AS Roma’s Mile Svilar after a season that firmly established the Udinese shot stopper as one of the best goalkeepers in Italian football.
Serie A confirmed its end of season individual awards on Friday, with Svilar collecting the best goalkeeper prize for the second year running. The Serbian claimed a league-leading 77 per cent save rate and 17 clean sheets in 37 appearances for Roma, numbers that gave him a clear statistical edge over Okoye and the rest of the field. Okoye’s own season was not far behind: 10 clean sheets in 29 appearances, a 70.9 per cent save rate, and a goals conceded average of 0.93 per game for a Udinese side that relied heavily on his reflexes throughout the campaign. As reported by FootballInNigeria.com.ng, the Nigerian was widely praised across Italian football media for what many described as his breakthrough Serie A season.
The gap between the two came down to efficiency and volume. Svilar played eight more league matches than Okoye and conceded an average of 0.84 goals per 90 minutes, compared to Okoye’s 0.93. The Serbian also operated behind one of Serie A’s more organised defensive structures at Roma, whereas Okoye routinely faced in excess of three shots on target per game for a Udinese side that sat in the middle of the table and depended on him to keep scorelines respectable. The context flatters Okoye as much as it explains the gap. Nigerian fans wanting to follow Okoye and the Super Eagles in the upcoming Unity Cup and friendlies can visit the Bet9ja promo code page for an enhanced opening offer.
A Month of Near-Misses
The end of season award was not the only honour that slipped away from the Udinese goalkeeper this week. Okoye had also been nominated alongside his coach Kosta Runjaic for the Serie A Player and Coach of the Month prizes for May. Both came up short: Okoye was beaten to the player award by Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez, while Runjaic did collect the coach of the month prize, becoming the first Udinese manager to win the honour in the modern era of the award. The month nominations were recognition of a spell in which Okoye made a string of high-profile saves, including an outstanding display in a 1-0 victory over a top-four club that kept Udinese climbing clear of any mid-table concerns.
The back to back near misses paint a picture of a goalkeeper whose individual performances this season have been significantly better than his trophy cabinet reflects. Svilar’s consecutive Goalkeeper of the Year wins are deserved on the numbers, but Okoye’s presence on the shortlist in both the main award and the monthly prizes signals that Italian football has taken serious notice. Those following the market can check the Bet9ja’s current YOHAIG code for the best offers on Nigeria’s upcoming fixtures.
Inter Milan Interest and the Contract Question
The season’s most significant subplot around Okoye has nothing to do with awards. Fresh from winning the Serie A title, Inter Milan have been linked with a move for the Super Eagles keeper as they search for a long-term heir to veteran Swiss international Yann Sommer. Reports out of Italy suggest Inter could be prepared to spend close to €30 million on Okoye, a fee that would represent a record transfer for a Nigerian goalkeeper by some distance.
The obstacle to any deal is a contract extension Okoye signed with Udinese that runs until June 2028. Udinese manager Runjaic regards the 25 year old as one of the most important players at the club and has made clear the side would not part with him cheaply. Whether Inter’s interest translates into a formal offer before the summer window closes remains to be seen, but the fact that a club of their stature is circling is a reflection of just how far Okoye has come since his loan move from Watford two seasons ago. Fans who want to place bets on Serie A next season or the Super Eagles friendlies can use the Bet9ja free bet guide ahead of the transfer window.
Svilar’s honour is thoroughly earned and his back to back wins place him in elite company. But from a Nigerian football perspective, the 2025-26 Serie A season will be remembered as the campaign in which Maduka Okoye announced himself to Italian football and made the country’s best individual award genuinely competitive. That is no small thing for a goalkeeper who was playing Championship football in England less than three years ago.
📌 Did You Know?
- Mile Svilar, who beat Okoye to the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year award, is a Belgian-born Serbian international who joined AS Roma from Benfica in 2022. He won the award in back to back seasons for the first time in the prize’s modern history.
- Before Svilar’s consecutive wins, the recent Goalkeeper of the Year roll of honour included Yann Sommer of Inter Milan, Ivan Provedel of Lazio and Mike Maignan of AC Milan, underlining how much the award rotates among the division’s top clubs.
- Maduka Okoye first moved to Udinese on loan from Watford in the summer of 2023. His performances over two seasons in Udine convinced the club to make the deal permanent and then hand him a contract extension through to June 2028.
- An Inter Milan move for Okoye would potentially cost in the region of €30 million, which would surpass the record fee ever paid for a Nigerian goalkeeper. The previous record is believed to be the €10 million Napoli paid Espanyol for Obi Martins’ compatriot Odion Ighalo in an outfield deal.
- Kosta Runjaic, Okoye’s manager at Udinese, won the Serie A Coach of the Month award for May 2026, making him the first Udinese head coach to collect the honour. Runjaic is a German of Croatian descent who took over at Udinese in 2024.
- Okoye began his career at the Fortuna Düsseldorf academy in Germany before moving to the Netherlands, where he played for Sparta Rotterdam. He joined Watford in 2021 and made his Premier League debut during their 2021-22 top flight campaign before the club were relegated.
- Lautaro Martinez, who beat Okoye to the Serie A Player of the Month award for May, finished the 2025-26 league season as Inter’s top scorer with 24 goals, helping the club win the Scudetto for the third time in four seasons.
