Stats: Which defender has scored the most goals in the last 10 seasons in Europe?

(L-R) John Terry, Sergio Ramos and Leighton Baines make it to the Top 10

While their primary duty is to stop opponents from scoring goals, defenders who score goals are a bonus to any team. Be it set-pieces or counter attacks, fans and managers love a defender who can put the ball in the back of the net. So who has been the best goalscoring defender in the past 10 seasons in Europe’s top 5 leagues?

According to Opta, it is none other than Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos. The Spanish international, who helped Los Blancos to La Decima last season with arguably his most important goal in his Madrid career, tops the list with 40 goals between the 2005/06 and 2014/15 seasons. Of the 40 goals, 26 were headers.

Next on the list is Naldo who has played for both Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg in the past 10 seasons. He is only three goals behind Ramos. Napoli's Christian Maggio rounds off the top three. He scored a third of his goals for Sampdoria.

Chelsea’s ever-present centre back John Terry is fourth on the list and it is highly unlikely that he can catch up to Ramos. Fellow English defender Leighton Baines is fifth though he has never scored from a header. The Everton full back is a free kick specialist and is also the designated penalty taker for the Merseyside club.

Two Hamburger SV defenders Westerman and Jansen are next in the list followed by Bayern Munich’s Javi Martinez and Auxerre’s Sebastien Puygrenier. Surprisingly, Joan Capdevila who hasn’t scored in the last five seasons is still in the top 10 thanks to his goals at Deportivo and Villarreal. 

MOST GOALS BY DEFENDERS – 2005/06 TO 2014/15

RANK	DEFENDER	CURRENT CLUB	GOALS	HEADERS
1	Sergio Ramos	Real Madrid	40	26
2	Naldo	Wolfsburg	37	16
3	Christian Maggio	Napoli	31	10
4	John Terry	Chelsea	27	19
5	Leighton Baines	Everton	26	0
	Heiko Westermann	Hamburg SV	26	12
7	Marcell Jansen	Hamburg SV	24	1
8	Javi Martinez	Bayern Munich	23	16
	Sebastien Puygrenier	Auxerre	23	12
	Joan Capdevila	Lierse SK	23	5