5 forwards who are criminally underrated
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Robert Lewandowski have dominated the goalscoring charts over the last decade. These superstars have normalized brilliance, making us believe that scoring 50 goals in a calendar year is the bare minimum for a forward.
Influenced by their unfathomable numbers, we often ignore players who deliver consistently for their teams week in, week out.
Today, we will take a break from the leading superstars and focus on players who have flown under the radar.
Here are five forwards who are not rated as highly as they are supposed to be:
#5 Ciro Immobile – Lazio
Following botched spells at Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla, Ciro Immobile joined Lazio in the summer of 2016. He barely took any time adjusting to new surroundings and started firing from the get-go.
In his debut season for Lazio, he scored 23 Serie A goals in 36 appearances, winning over his doubters. The following campaign, he bumped up his tally to 29 in Serie A and eight in the Europa League, winning the Golden Boot in both competitions. While Lazio finished fifth in the league, they reached the quarter-finals in the European competition.
So far, he has scored 175 goals for Lazio across competitions, winning the Golden Boot thrice in Serie A for the Rome-based outfit.
🦅
Ciro Immobile is currently co-leader in Serie A scoring with 20 goals.
Immobile now has 25 goals in all competitions for Lazio this season.
He is one of the most underrated strikers.
💙🦅🔥 https://t.co/mJboLN1pAx
The striker, of course, was also an important member of Italy’s Euro-winning squad last summer.
He scored two goals and provided an assist for his country, playing in all but one match as Italy lifted the prestigious trophy.
#4 Iago Aspas – Celta Vigo
Unlike the other players on this list, Iago Aspas has not had the good fortune of winning major collective accolades. His beloved Celta Vigo have been a mid-table club throughout the 21st century, robbing Aspas of the opportunity to celebrate major titles.
The 34-year-old, however, is not one to complain as he always gives his 100 percent whenever called upon.
Graduating from Celta’s youth academy, the Spaniard joined the senior team in 2009. Impressed with his work at Vigo, Premier League giants Liverpool snapped him up for a €10.8million fee in 2013.
Unfortunately, he struggled to settle in at the Merseyside club and could only make 15 appearances, scoring once before being loaned out and later sold to Sevilla.
In Seville, too, he appeared to be homesick and took part in only 25 games for the La Liga outfit. Fortunately, three of them came in the Europa League in the 2014-15 season, which allowed him to bag the winners’ medal.
34 years old
What a year
The Moaña’s magician
🔥 Iago Aspas
🎸 34 years old
👀 What a year
🎩✨🐇 The Moaña’s magician https://t.co/XVIB3Ogg1P
Following underwhelming spells, he returned home to Celta in 2015 and has been with them since.
Overall, the versatile forward has taken part in 407 appearances for Celta so far, pitching in with 179 goals and 59 assists across competitions.