Nobody generates more headlines than the players who score the goals. Most clubs with aspirations of winning trophies require a man up top who can consistently find the back of the net, with very few exceptions existing in the history of world football.
But who are the best strikers on the planet right now?
Let’s rank the top 10, based on a combination of pedigree and performance in the 2023/24 season, more heavily weighing recent performances. Because sport is a “what have you done for me lately?” business.
Note that only out-and-out strikers were included, so players like Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé who share time between positions or players like Vinícius Júnior who are wingers playing as left-sided forwards did not count.
10. Marcus Thuram, Inter Milan
Marcus Thuram was one of the most well-rounded No. 9’s at Borussia Mönchengladbach, and while his star could have faded last season as a result of some woeful play from his teammates not-named Jonas Hofmann, the Frenchman remained a coveted property on the transfer market.
Inter Milan signed Thuram for free as the effective replacement for Romelu Lukaku, who inexplicably flirted with rivals Juventus, only to join another Serie A powerhouse in Roma.
Thuram has been better than Lukaku to start the 2023/24 season, which sounds almost unbelievable.
But when you look at how Thuram has added to Inter’s attack and helped his teammates, you have to say that Thuram has been the superior option, particularly when looking beyond the basic statistics.
Yet the 26-year-old’s basic stats have been outstanding, too. Thuram has three goals and five assists, proving to be the best creative striker in world football not named Harry Kane right now.
He is such a force on the ball and one of the most intelligent strikers in the world at getting into the right positions to make the decisive pass that springs an attack.
9. Iago Aspas, Celta Vigo
A living legend of Spanish football, Iago Aspas remains one of the kings of LaLiga, just edging out the likes of Joselu and Álvaro Morata for a spot on this list.
Aspas might be 36 years old and without a goal this season, but anyone who has watched him play this season understands that the lack of goals doesn’t do any sort of justice to his quality of play.
That’s especially true when you account for where Celta Vigo would be without him, as they are in the relegation fight even with a player who is averaging a jaw-dropping 3.4 key passes per game.
There are playmakers who don’t even come close to this number.
But mostly, Aspas gets on this list on the back of the reputation he has earned over the years.
Aspas is consistently one of the leading goal-scorers in LaLiga, having scored at least 12 goals in each of the last 7 seasons. LaLiga is the toughest league for strikers nowadays, too.
8. Serhou Guirassy, Stuttgart
It may come as a surprise to anyone who hasn’t been paying attention to football beyond one league, but Serhou Guirassy is actually the leading goal-scorer in all of Europe’s top five leagues with 14 goals in 8 matches.
That’s a season’s haul, even though it’s only been about a quarter of a campaign.
Guirassy’s recent injury may throw a wrench into plans, but what he’s done for Stuttgart already is nothing short of commendable.
Stuttgart are not far off from the title race, and they have Guirassy to thank for both his exquisite finishes and his underrated all-around work. He is drawing fouls, starting attacks, and creating chances.
7. Victor Boniface, Bayer Leverkusen
Although Guirassy’s had more impressive numbers than Victor Boniface, the latter has been even more impressive in his first season with Bayer Leverkusen since making the jump to a top-five league.
Boniface was a standout in European football last season, but he’s already taken his game to the next level in Leverkusen.
What makes Boniface so impressive is how he creates chances for himself with his fleet feet and insanely quick processing speed. He needs only a millisecond to read a defender’s position and turn them inside-out with one touch.
Boniface’s nutmegs, turns, and feints are nothing like we’ve ever seen before in the Bundesliga.
Boniface has the numbers with seven goals and three assists in eight matches, but, scarily enough, it feels like the 22-year-old is only just about to truly blow up in the Bundesliga.
6. Romelu Lukaku, Roma
Already familiar with world-class performances in Serie A, Romelu Lukaku was the league’s MVP in 2020/21 when Inter Milan last won the Scudetto and then played a key role down the stretch of the 2022/23 season to help the Nerazzurri reach the Champions League Final.
And to think people were writing him off as finished!
Lukaku has taken well to life in the Italian capital thus far, scoring 5 goals in 7 appearances over just 554 minutes. The big Belgian is bringing a killer instinct next to Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini that Roma were sorely lacking last season.
Roma may be off the pace compared to their 2022/23 performances, but that’s no fault of Lukaku’s. He gives them hope of a big-time, mid-season turn-around under embattled legendary manager José Mourinho.
5. Robert Lewandowski, Barcelona
The ageless wonder that is Robert Lewandowski has been a little bit cold this season by his scorching standards, and a recent injury threatens to hamper the Polish international’s season.
But how many times have we seen Lewandowski rise above a minor injury or unwarranted criticism?
A big reason why Barcelona returned to the summit of LaLiga in the 2022/23 season, Lewandowski has made some signature plays already in the 2023/24 campaign.
Barça are indisputably better with him on the pitch, especially when you look at how his movement off the ball and his little flicks and touches aid the other attacking players.
Lewandowski has five goals and three assists in eight LaLiga appearances this season.
And really, the only reason why he isn’t getting more praise is because of how overwhelmingly brilliant Jude Bellingham and Antoine Griezmann have been for title rivals in the same league.
4. Victor Osimhen, Napoli
It’s easy for people to underappreciated just how good Victor Osimhen’s all-around game, especially because so much of how he dominates the game occurs off the ball.
He’s almost always in the right place at the right time, working hard away from the ball to make sure his teammates have options and space, including the option to launch it his way.
A monster in the box, Osimhen can find that little bit of separation necessary and then execute the header to change the game.
Osimhen has scored six goals in eight matches, and the Napoli man has a case for being the best pure goal-scorer in world football alongside Erling Haaland. His 26 goals last season in Serie A are no joke.
3. Lautaro Martínez, Inter Milan
Yet the most impressive striker in Serie A has definitely been Lautaro Martínez. A name to watch for years, Lautaro had a rough patch last season but then really came into his own to break out of it.
Since then, he’s been right there with Jude Bellingham as the most on-fire player in world football, playing the most important role in Inter Milan’s march to the Champions League Final (and Coppa Italia triumph).
Despite having double-digit goals already in 2023/24, Lautaro is more than just a goal-scorer. He creates chances and works harder than any other striker to win possession for his team.
There are matches in which his ball-winning efforts exceed that of the midfielders, and Inter’s midfielders are excellent in that regard, too.
2. Erling Haaland, Manchester City
Although Erling Haaland has been a little less consistent in 2023/24 without the chance-creating maven that is Kevin De Bruyne, a return of nine goals (and one assist) in nine Premier League matches is still nothing to sneeze at.
Sharing more goal-scoring responsibilities with Julián Álvarez could dampen Haaland’s numbers somewhat, but you figure that when KDB returns, Haaland can still threaten 40 goals again – he had 36 last season in a record-breaking campaign and is technically on pace for more in 2023/24.
Haaland may be a victim of his own greatness in that way. He’s so unprecedently good that he sets such sky-high expectations for himself, he cannot help but fall short of them in certain periods.
Yet Haaland remains the class of all goal-scorers in European football, regardless of whether or not Serhou Guirassy and Lautaro Martínez end up with more goals than the Norwegian.
1. Harry Kane, Bayern Munich
Last season, Erling Haaland had the goals, but Harry Kane was probably the best all-around player in the Premier League and the best striker in European football when taking into account his chance creation that largely went wasted on an incredibly disappointing Tottenham team – both Son Heung-min and Richarlison had huge down years.
With his attacking teammates at Bayern Munich – namely the unstoppable pairing of Leroy Sané and Jamal Musiala – Kane has exploded with the kind of start that has made fans of the club leave Robert Lewandowski further in the past.
Kane’s all-around play has been a joy to watch. He is dropping deep, picking up the ball, and interchanging with the other attackers to make Bayern even more fluid and dangerous after a, by their standards, quite disappointing 2022/23 campaign.
Right now, Kane has nine goals and four assists in eight Bundesliga matches. No striker is having a better all-around season – not even Marcus Thuram. Kane is honestly just getting started in his new stomping grounds.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.