Nigerian youngster and striker Kelechi Promise Iheanacho is been rated among the top 10 football finishers in the World.
This is a compilation of the top strikers and best finishers in the world. Their achievements is rated in relation to their performance both in national and club level. Here are the list below:
1. LUIS SUAREZ – Barcelona/Uruguay
Suárez opened the season by scoring and assisting on a goal in Barcelona’s 5–4 extra-time victory over Sevilla in the 2015 UEFA Super Cup, on 11 August 2015. The next day, he was named one of the three finalists for the 2015 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.
On 31 October, Suárez scored in a 2–0 away win against Getafe after being assisted with a backheel from Sergi Roberto. This was his 11th goal of the season and his 300th senior career goal. On 21 November, Suárez scored twice in Barcelona’s 4–0 away win against Real Madrid.
On the final day of the 2015–16 La Liga season, Suárez scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 victory at Granada CF to win the Spanish championship for Barça and registered 40 league goals for the season to win the Pichichi Trophy, for which Suárez became the first player since 2009 to win both the Pichichi and the European Golden Shoe other than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Fourteen of his goals came in his last 5 matches. Suarez also led the league in assists, tied at 16 with Messi, becoming the first player ever to lead La Liga in both goals and assists.
2. SERGIO AGÜERO – Manchester City/Argentina
On 7 August 2015, Agüero announced he would be switching from his number 16 shirt to the number 10 shirt, previously worn by teammate Edin Džeko. Nine days later, he opened the scoring in a 3–0 home victory over reigning champions Chelsea.
During City’s 2–0 victory away at Everton on 23 August, Agüero halted the game after noticing that an Everton supporter was in need of emergency treatment. The striker alerted the referee and the other players and made sure that the man received attention from the medics. On 30 September, Agüero earned and converted a last-minute penalty to give City a 2–1 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Champions’ League group stage.
On 16 April 2016, Agüero scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 win at Chelsea, ending with a penalty kick. He became the third visiting player to score a Premier League hat-trick at Stamford Bridge, and the fifth player to have three 20-goal seasons in the division. Three days later, he scored his 100th Premier League goal in a 1–1 draw at Newcastle. He reached the century in 147 games, second only to Alan Shearer who did so in 124. The goal was also Agüero’s sixth against Newcastle for the season, making his just the sixth player in the Premier League era to have scored six goals against the same club in a single campaign
Agüero ended the 2015–16 Premier League season with 24 goals, one behind Golden Boot winner Harry Kane and level with Jamie Vardy. However, with his goals coming from 30 appearances, Agüero recorded the league’s best goals to minute ratio.
3. CRISTIANO RONALDO – Real Madrid/Portugal
Following the winter break, Ronaldo’s form faltered, concurrently with a decline in performance by his team. A 2–1 defeat against Valencia in the first match of 2015, despite his opening goal, ended Real Madrid’s Spanish record winning streak of 22 matches in all competitions. Their season continued unsuccessfully as they failed to win a major trophy, earning a second-place league finish and a semi-final exit in Europe. In the latter competition, Ronaldo extended his run of scoring away to a record 12 matches with his strike in a 2–0 win against Schalke 04, before hitting a brace in the 3–4 return defeat that allowed Madrid to progress to the quarter-finals. He then scored both of his side’s goals in the semi-finals against Juventus, where Madrid was eliminated 2–3 on aggregate. With 10 goals, he finished the campaign as top scorer for a third consecutive season, alongside Messi and Neymar.
In La Liga, where Madrid finished second, Ronaldo went on a prolific goalscoring run towards the very end of the season. For the first time in his career, he scored five goals in one game, including an eight-minute hat-trick, in a 9–1 rout of Granada on 5 April. His 300th goal for his club followed three days later in a 2–0 win against Rayo Vallecano
Despite finishing runner-up to Messi for the FIFA Ballon d’Or, Ronaldo received criticism for his form and performances against top teams, with 14 of his goals coming against Espanyol and Malmö. During the second half of the season, however, his form gradually improved. By scoring four goals in a 7–1 home win over Celta Vigo on 5 March 2016, Ronaldo arrived at 252 goals in La Liga to become the competition’s second-highest scorer in history behind Messi.
On 19 March 2016, Lewandowski scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Köln[73] to bring his league total up to 25 goals; a new personal best.[73] He had scored 24 goals for Borussia Dortmund during the 2012–13 season.[74] His goal against Atlético de Madrid on 3 May in the second leg of Bayern’s Champions League semi-final exit saw him end the season’s competition with nine goals.[75]
4. ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI – Poland/Bayern Munich
On 7 May 2016, Lewandowski scored both goals for Bayern in a 2–1 win at FC Ingolstadt to confirm the Bavarian club as champions of Germany for the fourth consecutive season. A week later, he scored his thirtieth goal of the season in Bayern’s final league match of the season at home to Hannover 96. This made him the first player to score 30 goals in the Bundesliga since Dieter Müller in 1976–77 and secured him the Torjägerkanone for the second time in three seasons.
5. LIONEL MESSI – Barcelona/Argentina
Lionel Andrés “Leo” Messi, born 24 June 1987 is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team
On 3 February, he scored a hat-trick in Barcelona’s 7–0 win against Valencia CF in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at the Camp Nou, also scoring his 500th career goal in the process, including youth competitions. With teammate Luis Suárez scoring the other four goals in the same match, this was the first time that two players had scored at least three goals each at Camp Nou, and the first time since Luis Suárez Miramontes and Justo Tejada in 1956. The feat had only occurred three times before in the club’s history, all at Camp de Les Corts. The next league match at Camp Nou, a 6–1 win against Celta Vigo, Messi assisted Suárez from a penalty kick. Some people saw it as “a touch of genius”, while others criticised it as being disrespectful to the opponent. However, the Celta players never complained and their coach defended the penalty, stating: “Barca’s forwards are very respectful”. The penalty routine has been compared to that of Barça icon Johan Cruyff in 1982, who’s battling lung cancer, leading many fans to indicate that the penalty was a tribute to him. Cruyff himself was “very happy” with the play, insisting “it was legal and entertaining”.
On 17 February, Messi reached his 300th league goal in a 1–3 away win against Sporting Gijon. A few days later, he scored both goals in Barcelona’s 0–2 win against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, in the first leg of the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League Round of 16, with the second goal being Barcelona’s 10,000th in official competitions. On 17 April, Messi ended a five-match scoring drought with his 500th senior career goal for club and country in Barcelona’s 2–1 home loss to Valencia
6. JAMIE VARDY – England/Leicester City
By January 2016, Vardy’s transfer value had risen from £2.1 million to £18.8 million, with manager Claudio Ranieri describing him as “priceless”. On 2 February, he scored both goals in a 2–0 win against Liverpool, the first being a long-distance volley described as “world class” by opposing manager Jürgen Klopp. Four days later, he signed a new contract to keep himself at Leicester until 2019, increasing his weekly salary to £80,000. On 10 April 2016, Vardy scored both goals (his 20th and 21st of the season) in Leicester’s 2-0 win at Sunderland, becoming the first Leicester player since Gary Lineker in the 1984
85 season to score 20 goals in the top division of English football. The result also secured qualification to the UEFA Champions League for the first time in Leicester’s history. A week later, Vardy scored the first goal of a 2–2 home draw against West Ham United, but was later sent off for diving in the penalty area under pressure from Angelo Ogbonna. He was charged with improper conduct for his reaction to the dismissal and was fined £10,000, as well as being suspended for two matches during a vital point of Leicester’s eventually successful title campaign.
Vardy was one of four Leicester players in the PFA Team of the Year; he was later also named the FWA Footballer of the Year.
7. ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIĆ – Sweden/PSG
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for French club Paris Saint-Germain and the Sweden national team for which he is captain.
Ibrahimović made his final Ligue 1 appearance for PSG against FC Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium on 14 May 2016, scoring twice in a 4–0 victory to became Paris Saint-Germain’s top scorer in a single Ligue 1 season with 38 goals, which put him one goal ahead of Carlos Bianchi who managed 37 in the 1977–78 campaign. Ibrahimović ended the 2015–16 Ligue 1 season as its top scorer, the third time that he had done so. The league match was stopped briefly in the 10th minute as fans gave Ibrahimović – whose PSG shirt was No. 10 – a standing ovation. He was also cheered just before the final whistle, holding his two sons in his arms. They had moments earlier ran onto the pitch, wearing No. 10 PSG shirts with either the word ‘King’ or ‘Legend’ written in English on the back. The names were in reference to their father’s ‘I came like a king, left like a legend’ post on social media before the match.
8. GONZALO HIGUAÍN – Argentina/Napoli
Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín, born 10 December 1987) is a French-born Argentine professional footballer who plays for Italian club Napoli and the Argentina national team as a striker
Higuaín scored twice in Napoli’s 3–1 win over Sassuolo on 16 January 2016 to extend the team’s lead to four points; his second goal of the game was his 20th of the campaign. He scored his 30th goal of the Serie A season in a 3–1 away defeat to Udinese on 3 April, although he was sent off later during the match. In the following days, the Lega Serie A issued a four-match ban against Higuaín; a one-game ban for his two yellow cards, one for “protesting against the match officials”, one for “misconduct against an opponent”, and one for appearing to push referee Massimiliano Irrati, as well as a €20,000 fine. On 15 April, following an appeal on his ban, it was reduced to three matches as opposed to the initial four. On 14 May, Higuaín scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 home win over Frosinone, in the final match of the league season, to break Gunnar Nordahl’s record for most goals scored in Serie A in a single season (35 in 1949–50) and equalled Gino Rossetti’s record in 1928–29 by scoring 36 goals in the top flight and winning the Capocannoniere title.
9. KELECHI IHEANACHO – Nigeria/Manchester City
Kelechi Promise Iheanacho (born 3 October 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Manchester City and the Nigerian national football team.
Scored 14 goals in 11 matches in all competitions for the citizens this season. Iheanacho scored his first career hat-trick on 30 January 2016 against Aston Villa in the fourth round of the FA Cup, also setting up the 4th goal for Raheem Sterling. The following month, he was put in City’s UEFA Champions League squad at the expense of the injured Samir Nasri. During February, Iheanacho scored against Tottenham Hotspurs in a 2-1 home defeat for City.
Iheanacho’s next goals came on 23 April 2016, where he scored twice against Stoke City in a 4-0 victory. He followed this up with a Champions League semi-final substitute appearance on 26 April 2016. Five days later, 1 May 2016, he scored two again, albeit in a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Southampton.
The 19-year-old is quietly blossoming into a clinical finisher at City. That double took his overall tally to 11 in the season and a stat that sees him crowned as Europe’s deadliest marksman.
Iheanacho can lay claim to being the most prolific goal scorer in Europe’s top five league based on minutes played. His minute-to-goal ratio stands at 81.27.
10. PAULO DYBALA – Argentina/Juventus
Paulo Bruno Exequiel Dybala is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Juventus and the Argentina national team.
On 4 June 2015, Juventus announced the signing of Dybala on a five-year deal for a fee of €32 million (plus €8 million in add-ons). He was assigned the number 21 shirt, which was previously worn by Andrea Pirlo, who left the club that summer. On 8 August, he came on as a 61st-minute substitute for Kingsley Coman against Lazio in the 2015 Supercoppa Italiana. He scored the second goal in the 73rd minute in a 2–0 win in Shanghai
On 15 March, it was announced Dybala would miss the second round of 16 leg of the Champions League against Bayern on 16 March due to an edema overload of his left soleus muscle. He returned to action four days later in a 4–1 away win over rivals Torino, but was substituted after sustaining yet another injury. He returned to the starting line-up on 17 April, in a 4–0 home win over his former club Palermo. On 21 April, Dybala scored two goals in a 3–0 home win over Lazio, which took his league tally to 16 goals in 31 appearances, and also saw him score his 20th goal of the season in all competitions in the process. On 14 May, he scored a brace and set up another goal in the last match of the season, a 5–0 home win over Sampdoria, finishing the season as Juventus’s top scorer with 23 goals in all competitions and 19 goals in Serie A, as the club celebrated their Serie A title victory.
