Top 5 highest scoring active players
Goals are the essence of football matches, with teams spending weeks, sometimes months strategizing on the best ways to put the round leather into the back of the opposition net.
It is for this reason that players with the ability to put the ball in the back of the 'right' net on a consistent basis are placed on such a high premium, generally earning more than their peers in other positions while also having a stronger stake to claiming of individual prizes.
History has been littered with a plethora of players who regularly score goals at an alarming rate and while most of them have since retired, we are blessed to still witness some of the very best in the art of goalscoring continue to strut their stuff. In this piece, we shall be taking a look at the five highest scoring active players in Europe.
Note - all stats correct as of 22nd February 2019
#5 David Villa - 423 goals
Having displayed his goalscoring abilities on the European continent for over a decade, David Villa headed to the United States to join the newly formed New York City franchise and went on to spend four years at the club, writing his name into their history.
The 37-year-old has turned out for some of the biggest clubs in the world including Valencia, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid, winning a plethora of trophies including multiple La Ligas and a Champions League crowns.
On the international scene, Villa was also highly accomplished, being the focal point in attack for the 'Golden Generation' of Spain, which won three consecutive international tournaments between 2008 and 2012 (although he missed the 2012 tournament due to injury).
He is also the all-time record goalscorer for La Furia Roja with 59 goals from 98 international matches, while also finishing as joint top scorer at the 2010 World Cup.
In total, Villa has scored 423 goals from 829 matches throughout his career and this is an output which is enough to see him occupy the fifth spot in the rankings of highest scoring active players.