Akor Adams Tops Europe’s Offside Charts Despite Sevilla Role

Nigerian forward Akor Adams has been flagged offside 22 times this season — more than any other striker across Europe’s top five leagues, according to a report by Estadio Deportivo.

The 25 year old, now at Sevilla FC, has featured in 13 matches this campaign, scoring two goals. His last strike came in early October, during Sevilla’s 4–1 win over FC Barcelona. Despite moments of promise, Adams has now endured a seven-match goalless streak. Yet he remains a regular starte in the most recent round he played the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw against Valencia CF.

Internationally, he has already scored twice in his first four appearances for Super Eagles, and has been included in the provisional 54-man squad for 2025 Africa Cup of Nations a sign that his club and country continue to back his potential.

Nevertheless, the “offsides leader” label underscores a recurring problem: his timing and positioning on runs must improve. Many pundits and fans see this as a critical obstacle, potentially stalling his momentum as he tries to cement a starting role at both club and national level.

Editorial

There is a curious kind of elegance in failure and a sharp lesson in frustration. When Akor Adams steps onto the pitch, he carries both promise and peril. That he now wears the dubious crown of Europe’s most-offsided striker reveals a deeper truth: potential without discipline is a combustible thing.

For a forward at Sevilla in a league where seconds define existence timing is everything. Twenty-two offsides in one season is not just a statistic: it is a symptom. It speaks of eagerness, of a forward constantly trying to stretch defences, but also of an instinct misaligned with the refined demands of La Liga. One can admire the hunger, the ambition, the electric urge to be at the end of every pass. But football is unforgiving to those who leap before they see.

Still, dismissing Adams as a flawed finisher would be an oversimplification. He has shown glimpses the goals, the pace, the power. He has earned his place in the Super Eagles setup. But the road from promise to consistency is paved with hard lessons on timing, patience, and reading the game. For Adams, the challenge is not to run less, but to run smarter.

If he masters that if he learns the quiet art of waiting, of masking his movement, of trusting rhythm over raw impulse then those 22 offsides may become less a burden, more a badge of a young forward still learning the balance between instinct and maturity. Until then, every run risks being a gamble, every flag a whisper of what might have been.

Did You Know?

1. Despite being “offsides leader,” data shows that per 90 minutes, Adams is among the top-percentile in aerial duels won — underlining his strengths in physicality and presence in the box.
2. His two goals for Sevilla this season came both shortly after his arrival during the winter window, including a crucial match-winner against Rayo Vallecano, earning admiration from club fans early on.
3. Before moving to Spain, Adams enjoyed a productive spell in France with Montpellier HSC where his consistency and speed first attracted interest from major European clubs.
4. The “offsides” issue isn’t limited to Spanish football: across Europe’s top leagues, early data from this season shows Adams flagged more often than noted strikers in Italy, Germany, England and France demonstrating a cross-league pattern rather than a league-specific problem.
5. His inclusion in the provisional squad for AFCON 2025 indicates that despite stylistic flaws, national team management values his physical and attacking attributes  perhaps banking on his growth rather than current peak performance.