Ranking the 10 most lethal attackers in the 21st century
A plethora of world-class attackers have graced the game of football, especially since the turn of the century.
Most of them have scored big for club and country, winning titles and individual accolades galore. Some of these players are still going strong, despite being on the wrong side of 30. That is a testament to their sustained excellence, longevity and desire to excel at the top.
On that note, here's a look at the ten most lethal goalscorers for top-five league clubs (all competitions) and their countries since the turn of the century. They have been categorized in terms of goals per game.
[Note: Minimum 80 goals for a top-five league club and country. All stats are as per transfermarkt unless mentioned otherwise.]
Without further ado, let's get started.
#10 Ruud van Nistelrooy - 0.60 (270 goals)
Ruud van Nistelrooy is one of the most prolific strikers to have graced the game since the turn of the century.
The Dutchman made a blazing start to life at Manchester United when he arrived at the club in the early 2000s. He scored 36 times across competitions, but Van Nistelrooy was only just getting started.
In his next season at Old Trafford, the 45-year-old bettered his previous season's tally by eight goals. Almost two decades later, that remains a record tally by a Premier League player across competitions in a season.
44 - Ruud van Nistelrooy scored 44 goals in all competitions in 2002-03 - no Premier League player has ever netted more in a single campaign. Relentless. #OptaPLSeasons https://t.co/QrU7kjLFJr
Despite his returns dwindling in his next three seasons, Van Nistelrooy ended his United stint with a rich tally of 150 goals in over 200 games across competitions.
The 2003 Premier League winner enjoyed a less prolific stint at Real Madrid, netting only 64 times across competitions in four seasons. He subsequently scored 17 times for Hamburger in two seasons, before ending his career at Malaga, netting five times in his lone campaign there.
Van Nistelrooy was a prolific scorer for the Netherlands, too. He scored 35 times in 70 games, with all but one of these goals coming this century.
#9 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 0.6 (447 goals)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the most successful strikers who is still active in the game.
The evergreen Swede, who recently turned 40, brought up his 500th goal in club football earlier this year. He has won league titles in four different countries, and almost did so in a fifth (England).
Still going strong despite turning 40, the AC Milan attacker had his most prolific spell at Paris Saint-Germain, for whom he scored over 150 times.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has now scored 500 career club goals 🤯 https://t.co/eJwDs4r0V1
The all-time Sweden top scorer has also scored 62 times for his country, after making his debut two decades ago against the Faroe Islands.
#8 Neymar - 0.62 (262 goals)
Neymar is one of the most skilful players in the game at the moment. He earned rave reviews for his prolific exploits with Santos, which grabbed the attention of top European clubs.
Eventually, Barcelona won the race for his signature, snapping up the Brazilian attacker in the summer of 2013. Neymar enjoyed a prolific four-season stint with the Blaugrana, scoring over 100 goals and providing almost 80 assists.
He won two La Liga titles and a continental treble with them before landing at PSG on a world-record transfer in 2017. Despite having an injury-plagued campaign in Paris last year, Neymar became the only player to score 20 Champions League goals for two different clubs.
20/20 - Neymar is the first player in the history of the European Cup/Champions League to score 20 goals for two different teams (Barcelona and PSG). Vision. https://t.co/dV75pUE6jC
The three-time Ligue 1 winner has netted 70 times for Brazil, closing in on their all-time top scorer Pele (77).
#7 Kylian Mbappe - 0.62 (184 goals)
Kylian Mbappe is one of the best young attackers in the game at the moment. Still only 22, the Frenchman has had exploits many seasoned campaigners would be proud of.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup winner has already won four Ligue 1 titles, scoring over 100 goals, with most of them coming for PSG. Mbappe has also been a prolific scorer in the Champions League, netting 28 times in nearly 50 games.
In addition to his goals, Mbappe also creates goalscoring opportunities galore for teammates. In Ligue 1 and the Champions League, the PSG attacker has recorded an impressive tally of 67 assists.
150 - Kylian Mbappé has been involved in 150 goals in Ligue 1 since his first appearance in December 2015 (111 goals, 39 assists), at least 35 more than any other player over the period. Beast. #PSGOL https://t.co/dS9fFZ0cNs
Mbappe hasn't been as prolific for France, netting 19 times in 51 games. But four of those strikes, one of them in the final, came during Les Bleus' triumphant 2018 World Cup campaign.