Sportskeeda's 10 Best Forwards of the Year 2015

With the year drawing to a close, it’s time to start handing out a few awards for the footballers who have managed to hit all the right notes over the course of the past 12 months.What better position to fawn over than the striker. The year has been kind to fans of the beautiful game of late with plenty of goal-scoring records getting broken as well as the fact that we’ve seen our fair share of absolute golazos, but the tricky part comes in attempting to single out a select few performers for praise.Entertainment and spectacle have met us at every turn of the calendar pages and many a thrilling moment has become emblazoned on our minds, but exactly who have the stand-out forwards of the year been? And why are they deserving of our recognition?Looking at the calendar year 2015, we have shortlisted 10 of the best forwards this year. The players appear in no particular order.Who is your pick? Remember to vote in the poll at the end of the article.

#11 Honourable Mentions

Higuain, Giroud and Hernandez narrowly missed out on the top ten, despite each having stellar calendar years

Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli) : Amongst the top goalscorers across Europe’s best leagues, Gonzalo Higuain has earned the right to be considered one of the most fearsome attackers around after a series of fine individual performances for his club SSC Napoli. In total, the Argentine has accrued as many as 27 Serie A goals this year, and one would be hard pushed to find a better finisher in that league than him. 

Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) : It seems not a week goes by without Arsenal being linked to one world-class forward or another, but what people often fail to realise is that the Gunners already have one amongst their ranks and his name is Olivier Giroud. In 2015, he managed to rattle the net 19 times in the league and, as reported by @afcstuff on Twitter, he is the highest-scoring Frenchman of the year.

Javier Hernandez (Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen) : The player nicknamed “Chicharito” was rarely given a chance at Old Trafford in the latter years of his Manchester United career, but ever since he snagged a move to the Bundesliga’s Bayer Leverkusen, he has really come into his own. Since joining the German club in 2015, he has picked up 19 goals, with 17 of those arriving in his most recent 14 matches. Had the move materialised sooner, he might have made the cut.