Surprise name ahead of Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo in the 10 top scorers of the last decade
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both feature in the 10 top scorers across Europe over the last decade, but a surprise name sneaks in ahead of them.
Europe’s top five leagues have been blessed with some truly elite forwards over the last decade and plenty of familiar faces make an appearance on this list.
Using data gathered from Transfermarkt, we have found the 10 top scorers of the last decade from Europe’s top five leagues across all competitions.
10. Ciro Immobile – 239 goals
With 10 goals to his name this season, the Italian forward is still slotting them away to this day. A vastly underrated striker, Immobile rightly ranks among some elite names in this list.
His most prolific season came in 2017-18 as he scored 41 goals for Lazio across all competitions. Averaging an impressive 23.9 goals per season over the last 10 years, Immobile more than justifies his spot on this list.
9. Luis Suarez – 241 goals
Considering the Uruguayan forward hasn’t played in Europe since 2021–22, it’s impressive in itself that he manages to make this list.
Suarez was undeniably at his peak during his first few years at Barcelona as he formed a formidable partnership with Messi and Neymar. A two-time winner of the European Golden Shoe, there’s an argument to be made that he’s the best striker of his generation.
8. Mohamed Salah – 250 goals
The Egyptian King has been unbelievably prolific since his arrival at Anfield in 2017. Along with his ridiculous scoring numbers, he also ranks as one of the Premier League’s most creative players these days. That’s some going.
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Liverpool’s Xl from Mohamed Salah’s debut in 2017?
7. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 256 goals
The former Arsenal frontman hasn’t always been the most consistent, but when he’s hot, there aren’t many forwards who can hold a candle to his goalscoring numbers.
Unsurprisingly, the bulk of his goals in the last decade came during his stints with Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal. Following a subpar season with Chelsea, he’s rekindled his goalscoring touch with Marseille this year.
6. Karim Benzema – 257 goals
The Frenchman was unselfish enough to play a supporting role to Ronaldo during some of his peak years with Real Madrid. With that being the case, it’s impressive that his scoring numbers still rank him among the best of his generation.
Following Ronaldo’s exit in 2018, Benzema put the pressure of Real Madrid on his own shoulders and carried the club through the next few years.
His ludicrously good run in the 2021–22 Champions League was a particular highlight from the last decade.
5. Kylian Mbappe – 271 goals
By far the youngest player on this list, Mbappe will no doubt be eyeing up the top spot in the coming years. The 25-year-old is already PSG’s all-time top scorer and he’s managed to win five consecutive Ligue 1 Golden Boots, with a sixth probably on the way.
A switch to Real Madrid this summer seems inevitable and we can’t imagine what sort of obscene scoring numbers he’s going to be able to produce in that superteam.
4. Harry Kane – 309 goals
As things stand, he’s leading the race for the European Golden Shoe with 27 league goals for Bayern Munich. While the German champions have slipped to second in the league, Kane has still been at his prolific best.
Since making the switch to Germany, he’s scoring at a rate of 1.17 goals per game which is a tremendously good return.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo – 350 goals
At his peak, you’d struggle to find a better goalscorer than Ronaldo in the history of football. Unlike many, he’s managed to get even more clinical as the years have gone on.
The Portuguese superstar has scored more goals since turning 30 than he managed prior to that landmark birthday. That’s some going.
Discounting the goals he has scored for Al Nassr, Ronaldo has a whopping 350 strikes at club level over the last decade which earns him third spot on this list.
2. Lionel Messi – 377 goals
The Argentine genius just misses out on the top spot with 377 strikes over the last 10 years. Of course, Messi is far more than just goals, but his scoring numbers have usually been among the best in the business.
Of the 377 goals, 32 of them came for PSG, while the remaining 345 were scored at Barcelona. He’s still doing the business in MLS today, but we’d be lying if we said we didn’t miss him in Europe.
1. Robert Lewandowski – 407 goals
Amazingly, the Polish striker has managed to outscore all of the competition over the last 10 years. Even at the ripe old age of 35, he’s still sticking them in with relative ease for Barcelona.
The bulk of his goals in the last decade came from his time with Bayern Munich where he scored 344 goals in 375 appearances.
Strikers like Lewandowski don’t come around often and we’ve been fortunate enough to live through his peak years. With 407 goals and counting, it will take some effort to top him on this chart.
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TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every current Premier League club’s top scorer in the competition?