Sevilla striker Akor Adams has picked up an unexpected statistic this season after emerging as the player with the most offside calls across Europe’s major leagues.
Akor Adams, 24, has been flagged offside 19 times in La Liga, coming from 757 minutes of action in 13 appearances, seven of which were starts. The figure places him ahead of Kylian Mbappé, who has been caught offside 16 times while leading the scoring charts with 16 goals in 16 matches for Real Madrid.
Across Europe, only Fiorentina forward Moise Kean matches Adams’ tally. Kean has also recorded 19 offsides, though his came over 1,157 minutes from 13 starts in Serie A. In the Bundesliga, Deniz Undav has 11, Bournemouth’s Evanilson has 12 in the Premier League, while Mohamed Kader Meite has six in Ligue 1.
While the numbers highlight Adams’ aggressive positioning on the shoulder of defenders, his attacking returns have been modest.
He has scored two goals and provided one assist this season, with 14 efforts on goal and five on target. His last goal came in early October during a 4-1 win over Barcelona, and he has now gone seven matches without scoring.
Despite the drought, Sevilla continue to look to him to lead the line. He played the full match in the 1-1 draw with Valencia on Sunday and remains central to the club’s plans going into the winter break.
His development at club level has also strengthened his status on the international stage. Adams has scored twice in his first four caps for Nigeria and has been named in Eric Chelle’s provisional squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
He is poised to make his final appearance of the year for Sevilla when they host Oviedo on Sunday before linking up with the Super Eagles for his first major tournament.
The striker has spoken openly about the disappointment of missing the 2026 World Cup after Nigeria fell to DR Congo in the play-off final in November. He received his first senior call-up in October for the qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin, scoring on his debut from the bench.
He went on to score Nigeria’s opener in the semi-final win over Gabon, before a frustrating outing against DR Congo in Rabat, where he entered the match early for the injured Victor Osimhen.
