It hasn’t always been easy for Roma to rely on an individual striker over a sustained period of time, with players like Tammy Abraham and Borja Mayoral in recent years showing flashes of potential and then losing their spark.
But things seem to be changing with Donyell Malen, who preserved his incredible form from his first six months with Roma by scoring a hat-trick on the opening day of his second season with the club.
Here are the examples of Roma’s top scorer (in league games only) of the previous season scoring their first goal of the next.
Donyell Malen – 2026
Malen made a bigger impact in front of goal than any other January signing in Serie A history after his move to Roma from Aston Villa in 2026.
But could he maintain that form after a summer break? The first evidence from the 2026-27 season suggested so.
Malen scored the second hat-trick of his Roma career with his treble against Fiorentina to help get the new season underway.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 2021
Mkhitaryan wasn’t Roma’s top scorer in all competitions in the 2020-21 season, but he was in Serie A games only.
The attacking midfielder had found his groove under Paulo Fonseca, but there was scepticism over how he would react to reuniting with José Mourinho, a coach he had famously fallen out with at Manchester United.
But it was Mkhitaryan who scored the first league goal of the Mourinho era for Roma, doing so in the first half of a 3-1 win over Fiorentina.
It turned out to be Mkhitaryan’s last season with Roma, but it ended on a high note with Conference League glory.
Edin Džeko – 2018
To say how many goals Džeko scored for Roma, it’s quite surprising there was only one year in which he ended one season as the club’s top scorer and started the next one as their first scorer.
His 16-goal haul in the 2017-18 Serie A season wasn’t quite enough to retain his status as the league’s top scorer, but he remained Roma’s biggest source of inspiration in attack, especially after losing his frontline partner Mohamed Salah.
Roma left it late on the opening day of the 2018-19 campaign, but Džeko bailed them out with one of his best goals for the club, a volley against Torino in the dying minutes to seal a 1-0 win.
Dani Osvaldo – 2012
Osvaldo was Roma’s top scorer in both of the seasons he spent with the club, and he picked up from where he left off at the start of the 2012-13 campaign.
Under new boss Zdeněk Zeman, Osvaldo levelled things up for Roma in their opening day draw with Catania.
It was his first of 16 league goals that season, a tally five better than his first term with the club.
Pre-21st Century
Rudi Völler – 1990
Roberto Pruzzo – 1985
Agostino Di Bartolomei – 1977
Pierino Prati – 1974
Amarildo – 1971
Giuliano Taccola – 1968
Pedro Manfredini – 1961
Pedro Manfredini – 1960
Amedeo Amadei * – 1947
Enrique Guaita – 1934
Rodolfo Volk – 1931
Rodolfo Volk – 1929
* Amadei was also Roma’s top scorer of one season then first scorer of the next in 1943, 1945 and 1946, but in wartime tournaments while Serie A was not running.
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