Lazio captain Mattia Zaccagni and AC Milan midfielder Luka Modric were the big winners from Serie A at the inaugural Sofascore Player of the Season Awards.

Zaccagni was crowned the Italian top flight’s best player for 2024-25 while Croat Modric was honoured at the ceremony in his home town of Zadar when presented with the Sofascore Founders Legend Award.

Sofascore winners are chosen purely from the statistical data across the campaign – every goal, pass, tackle or miss contributes to a total – and Zaccagni’s 7.34 was enough to finish ahead of second-placed Mateo Retegui, who led the Serie A scoring chart before leaving Atalanta for Saudi Pro League club Al-Qadsiah.

Retegui’s former team-mate in Bergamo, Ademola Lookman, was third, while goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, now on loan at Napoli having left Torino, and Inter striker Marcus Thuram, rounded out the top five.

Zaccagni said: “I am honoured to receive this award and to have achieved these fantastic statistics. I hope to continue like this and be able to win it again next year or at least keep it in our locker room if my team-mates win.

“I thank my team-mates, the organisation and the coaches who allowed me to achieve these statistics.”

Italy and Juventus legend Alesandro Del Piero was full of praise for the 30-year-old forward. He said: “Mattia is a very consistent player, a unique player. Lazio had an incredible season for about three quarters of the season and as captain and No 10 he had a huge impact. He always performs well as a captain. I really like him.”

Another player Del Piero is fond of is Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay, who was instrumental in his side’s Scudetto triumph.

When asked who else stood out, Del Piero added: “By far, McTominay. He impacts Napoli especially in the moments when they need to win.”

Modric, a six-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, moved to the San Siro this summer after a trophy-laden 13 years in Spain. The 39-year-old is a Ballon d’Or winner, back in 2018 after guiding his country to the final of the World Cup.

After being presented with his award Modric said: “Thank you Sofascore. It is an honour to receive this.”

Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel, who presented the ceremony alongside Kate Scott for broadcaster CBS Sports, spoke highly of Milan’s new midfield maestro.

He said: “He is one of the best players ever. You just have to look at what he’s won. And taking a country like Croatia, leading from the front and reaching the semi-final (2022) and final of the World Cup.

“Six Champions Leagues is just crazy. How can you win six Champions Leagues?

“The guy is amazing. What he has done with Real Madrid is amazing. He is also an incredibly nice guy so congratulations to him.”

Modric will be starring alongside Christian Pulisic in the Milan side this term and the United States international was also singled out.

CBS Sports analyst Marco Messina said: “Milan’s season was a disappointment but Pulisic was the only saving grace. You can see it in his score (7.28), the biggest he’s had. The biggest knock he had was that he didn’t show up in decisive games. Last season he turned that around and did it against Inter, against Juventus and of course, in the Champions League against Liverpool and Real Madrid. He earned Milan 17 points on his own between goals and assists.”

The division winners across Europe’s major leagues were Liverpool star Mohamed Salah (7.78), Barcelona’s Raphinha (7.80), Bayern Munich defender Joshua Kimmich (7.91) and Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi (7.76).