Højlund scores more and touches the ball far less
In his first 305 minutes of this Serie A season Højlund has scored 2 goals, but he touches the ball far less than last year. The per-90 numbers describe a striker who is more effective in front of goal and much less involved in Napoli's build-up.
Today's player is Højlund, 23, from Denmark, a striker for Napoli and one of the most expensive names on our list: 29 credits, the 98th percentile among the 116 listed strikers. The starting probability we assign him is 90%, the highest figure in his position. The point the numbers make today concerns anyone who owns him: this season Højlund scores more often than last year, but touches the ball far less.
Last season was his full campaign in Italy: 33 appearances, 32 of them as a starter, 2,761 minutes, 12 goals and 5 assists. He took 46 shots, 25 of them on target; he completed 507 passes at 74.0% accuracy with 33 key passes. In the physical side of the game he had the numbers of a proper target man: 111 duels won out of 309 (35.9%), 12 successful dribbles out of 34 attempted (35.3%), 53 fouls suffered and 37 committed. One penalty taken and scored, and a single booking all season. His API-Football average rating that year was 6.57.
This season we are at 4 games, all as a starter, 305 minutes and 2 goals: enough for a per-90 comparison, the only honest way to compare two seasons with such different playing time. Goals rise from 0.39 to 0.59 per 90 minutes (+50.9%) and shots on target from 0.81 to 1.18 (+44.8%). Everything else falls, and sharply: passes from 16.53 to 10.33 per 90 minutes (-37.5%), key passes from 1.08 to 0.30 (-72.6%), duels won from 3.62 to 2.36 (-34.8%), fouls suffered from 1.73 to 0.59 (-65.8%). Assists so far are zero. The current-season figures are based on the 305 minutes he has played, last season's on his 2,761 minutes in Serie A 2025-26.
Our FantaTB fantasy scores, which we calculate ourselves and which are not a newspaper's ratings, say the same thing from another angle. His average rating is 5.75, his fantasy average 7.25: nearly a point and a half apart, the signature of a striker who lives on bonuses. The four matchdays went 5.5, then 9.0, then 9.5 and finally 5.0. Two games that gave nothing and two that decided the week, with nothing in between. That fantasy average places him in the 73rd percentile among the 73 listed strikers who already have a figure.
Napoli around him have yet to find consistency: tenth place with 6 points from 4 matchdays (2 wins, 2 defeats), 6 goals scored and 5 conceded, form WLLW. The side produces 1.32 xG per game - that is Napoli's xG, not his, because individual xG is not a figure we hold - across 3 of the 4 games with full statistics, and concedes 0.66. They take 14.2 shots per game with 4.0 on target, hold 47.8% possession and have kept a clean sheet in 2 games out of 4. On matchday 5 they travel to the Stadio Artemio Franchi to face Fiorentina on 20 September at 10:30 UTC: the opponent sits sixteenth with 3 points, form LLLW, 1.30 goals scored and 2.80 conceded per game, no clean sheets in four matchdays and 1.63 xG conceded per game.
On availability our data show no obstacle: no injury or suspension flagged, a starter in each of the last 3 games, named in the projected line-up at 94%. What to expect, with no promises: a striker who right now is served little and takes little part in the build-up, but who puts the ball away at a higher rate than last year when it reaches him in the right space. Anyone who paid 29 credits for him should expect exactly this profile: few workmanlike ratings, a low average, and the outcome hanging on whether the bonus arrives.
TransferBeat aggregates football news citing the original sources. Developing story.