All hail Retegui: Mateo is the Lete POTS 2024!

The votes are finally in. And so, the curtain falls on the Lete-branded saga with yet another triumph for Mateo Retegui – the undisputed ruler of the regular season, boasting an unmatched five Player of the Month awards. It’s the Atalanta top scorer who claims the final individual accolade as well, putting the ultimate seal on what, to borrow the words of Gabriel García Márquez, had all the makings of a "Chronicle of a Victory Foretold".

King of goals, king of the POTMs, and now king of the season: everything unfolded according to script.
In the end, the 2024/25 campaign had one name written all over it: Retegui.

Rounding out the podium are Marco Carnesecchi, the “Yin” to the “Yang” embodied by Atalanta's number 32 not in position on the pitch alone, and the outgoing POTS, Ademola Lookman, the final piece in the trio of contenders who battled it out for the crown of MVP in the 2024/25 season.

Though Mateo Retegui’s journey (or more accurately, his triumphant march) towards the Player of the Season title needs no introduction, it’s all the more telling that his race for gold was marked by the methodical rhythm of a well-oiled goal machine as he imposed his will from the very first opportunity: that August 17 evening in Lecce, where the Argentine No. 32 officially introduced himself to the Atalanta faithful with a stunning brace. It came days after the unofficial preview in Warsaw, and with hindsight, that debut at the Via del Mare was nothing short of a sign of things to come.

That was the first of his six multi-goal games, more than anyone else in Serie A 2024/25. Alongside the Lecce brace came a hat-trick against Genoa at the Gewiss Stadium, a double at home to Verona, another brace in Bern during the six-goal demolition of Young Boys, a two-goal turnaround at Sinigallia to sink Como in a perfect storm, and finally, an unforgettable four-goal haul at the Bentegodi. All crucial pieces of a campaign that saw El Chapita crowned Serie A’s Best Striker, and finish sixth in the European Golden Shoe standings.

A record-breaking season that reached its apex at the Ferraris, his first Italian home before landing in Bergamo on August 7. Retegui tallied 28 goals across all competitions, equalling Duván Zapata’s mark from 2018/19, the joint-highest in an Atalanta shirt since the club returned to Serie A in 2011/12. He did so in 49 appearances and 3,154 minutes, averaging a goal every 113 minutes.

Of those, 25 came in Serie A—, he crown jewel of Retegui’s masterpiece. That tally shattered Filippo Inzaghi’s long-standing club record in the top flight and returned the black and blue colours to the top of the scorers' table, a spot untouched since the 1996/97 season.

He closed the league campaign as the undisputed Capocannoniere, becoming only the second Atalanta player ever to do so after Inzaghi. His 25 goals accounted for 32% of the team’s total Serie A tally. But it wasn’t just the volume, it was the symmetry: 10 goals with his left foot, 10 with his right, and 5 with his head. A perfect balance. A true geometry of goals.

To his incredible scoring output, Retegui added 3 goals on Europe’s biggest stage and 8 assists, rounding out a debut season with 33 total goal involvements. Among players in Europe’s top five leagues in 2024/25 with at least 20 goals, only Mohamed Salah (18) and Omar Marmoush (9) registered more assists than him (tied on 8 with Harry Kane).

A ruthless finisher, blessed with a deadly nose for goal and the intelligence to read spaces and sacrifice for the team, Retegui didn’t just strike fear into defenders; he was a cornerstone in Atalanta’s pursuit of glory, both collective and individual. He picked up five MVP awards across the season: back-to-back at home against Genoa (Matchday 7) and Verona (Matchday 8), at Como (Matchday 22), at the Bentegodi (Matchday 24), and at home to Bologna (Matchday 32). Add to that the Player of the Match award on Matchday 5 of the group stage during the European triumph over Young Boys.

His dominance and consistency were also recognised in Atalanta’s official accolades: five Player of the Month titles, August, October, and then a storming return in 2025 with January, February, and April. Not to mention a bronze finish in September.

And so, with the same natural ease with which he dominated every penalty box this season, Mateo Retegui applies the final seal on Atalanta’s 2024/25 honours list, crowning himself the undisputed king of a truly unforgettable campaign.

The second step of the podium goes to Marco Carnesecchi, the author of a season truly “with white gloves.” After alternating roles last season, 2024/25 marked the number 29’s first real appointment as Atalanta’s outright starter between the posts. And the Rimini-born goalkeeper, called to take on the role of “frontman” in what is by definition the most demanding position on the pitch, not only answered the call, taking up the mantle with maturity and determination, but went above and beyond, establishing himself as both a true bulwark for his teammates and kryptonite for opposing attacks. A level of consistency that earned him Player of the Month in March, silver in December, January, April and May, and bronze in February.

A season to frame, sealed by 13 clean sheets in the league: an all-time record for an Atalanta goalkeeper in the three-points-for-a-win era, surpassing the 12 kept by Andrea Consigli in 2011/12. To this are added 98 total saves, with a 74% save success rate, and 5.9 goals prevented, fourth-best overall in Serie A Enilive 2024/25.

One match that encapsulates his brilliance came away at Cagliari, where he delivered 8 decisive saves—a standout performance that rightfully earned him Man of the Match honours.

But Carnesecchi’s command wasn’t limited to Serie A. On the grand stage of the UEFA Champions League, he racked up 5 clean sheets (four of them back-to-back) writing a piece of history in the process. He became the first Italian goalkeeper, and just the fourth overall after Keylor Navas, Kasper Schmeichel, and Petr Čech, to keep a clean sheet in each of his first four starts in the competition.

A model of consistency and calm, Carnesecchi ran his season like clockwork, delivering with the precision of a metronome. He racked up 44 appearances and 3,960 minutes on the pitch, second only to the tireless and ageless Marten de Roon.

Taking third place is the outgoing Player of the Season and 2022/23 MVP, Ademola Lookman. Though he just missed out on the triple crown, the Nigerian still bags a bronze medal with serious clout, a testament to yet another season of relentless growth and yet another starring role in the Nerazzurri shirt.

Now in his third season wearing black and blue, Lookman has cemented himself as one of Atalanta’s true talismanic figures not just in the heat of the monthly pageants- where he’s collected a haul of individual laurels including the Player of the Month in September, silvers in October, November, and February, plus a bronze in December- but even more so as a leader with undeniable influence on the pitch.

Adding to these individual accolades are seven Man of the Match nods in the Serie A Enilive: against Fiorentina in Matchday 4, Hellas Verona in Matchday 9, a show-stealing brace at the Maradona Stadium against Napoli in Matchday 11, a decisive goal versus Milan in Matchday 15, at the Olimpico against Lazio in Matchday 18, against Empoli in Matchday 26, and a strong finish against Roma in Matchday 36. On top of these individual accolades, he hit two massive milestones: his 100th official appearance for the Dea and his 50th goal in Nerazzurri colors, a tally he quickly pushed to 52 landing him firmly in the club’s all-time top 10 scorers.

All told, it’s another campaign to frame for “Mola,” who once again embodied the Atalanta spirit to perfection: unwavering consistency, hunger, and the grit to truly sweat for the shirt, always pushing to raise the bar higher. His work ethic and mentality are the very essence of what Atalanta stands for.

Raise your glasses, or better yet, your materos, to our 2024 Player of the Season!
A big round of applause as well for Marco and Mola, who complete the podium with a well-earned second and third place.
And a heartfelt thank you to all the Nerazzurri fans on the official Atalanta app who took part in our monthly social voting!