It’s very hard to make value judgements on strikers now, with the way football has evolved. In fact, the pure striker looks to be something of an endangered species in England, with City and Liverpool playing with false nine’s, and Chelsea winning the CL last season using a rotating front 3. Many managers seem to prefer those who are better at pressing and creating chances for inverted wingers than actually scoring goals. In terms of out and out strikers though, this would be my current top 4:
1) Lewandowski - Plain and simply, you can’t argue with 48 goals and 9 assists in 40 games last season where he smashed Muller’s amazing age old record in the process, and 15 goals and 1 assist this season. The guy is by far the best goalscorer in the world at the moment, and is excellent at every other aspect of being a striker as well. He even averaged a goal a game for Poland in the Euros! The guy is 33 and just keeps getting better - I hope he wins the Ballon D’or, especially after the robbery in 2020.
2) Benzema - The way he’s stepped into Ronaldo’s shoes with absolutely no issue has been admirable. Real Madrid have almost solely depended on him for goals, and he definitely hasn’t let them down, with 27 in all competitions in 2019-20 when they won the league, 30 last season and 11 in 11 this season. He’s genuinely arguably their best creator as well, with 8 assists next to those goals already. He’s finally won that elusive international trophy as well, which France wouldn’t have won without him rescuing them in both the semis and final.
3) Kane - Believe it or not, he still makes my top 3. I’m aware that he has started this season awfully after that transfer saga, but after getting so many best player in the world shouts last season, I don’t think he should be written off after 2 bad months. At the end of the day, he’s the first England captain to reach a Euros final and got the most goals and assists in the toughest league in the world. I don’t think anyone will be repeating this feat anytime soon. Bear in mind, he did this for Spurs, who finished 7th and might as well just play their games with only him and Son, in a team where he’s minded to drop back and help with their build-up play as well, something no striker is superior to him at.
Honourable mentions
4) Haaland - Based on this season, him vs Kane would not even be a debate. Him going neck and neck with Lewandowski at the top of the Bundesliga scorers table is going under the radar because it isn’t even unexpected anymore. He’s a phenomenon, and he will be top 1 soon, let alone 3. I just can’t ignore what Kane did last season in an average team.
5) Ronaldo - He is declining and contributes much less to build-up play than before, there’s no doubt about that. However, while people will argue that a large chunk of those goals came from the spot, he’s the reigning Serie A and Euros top scorer at 36 years old. This sort of stuff is unprecedented, not human-like and will never be seen again. I love Messi as well, but his longevity makes him the greatest of all time for me.
