As Europe's top divisions and cup competitions alike approach the final stretch of the season, we thought we take a look at the five most prolific players in the continent's five best leagues so far in this campaign.
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We're getting to the business end of the 2023/24 campaign now, where strikes into the back of the net are proving more valuable, and the five players who have been doing that the best in their domestic league and cups, as well as on the continental stage, are:
Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid, 20 goals
The Englishman has taken world football by storm. During his Borussia Dortmund days, the attacking midfielder did show his ability to manipulate spaces with his movement and positioning on the edge of the box, but very few people knew how prolific he could be. The Stourbridge native has 20 goals in all competitions for Los Blancos so far this season, with the Spanish giants having hardly felt Karim Benzema's departure to Saudi Arabia as a result. An ankle injury has kept Bellingham out of action recently, but he is still among the most clinical attackers on the continent, and will likely add to his goals tally as his team looks to recapture league and continental honours.
Erling Haaland, Manchester City, 22 goals
Following the England international is Erling Haaland. The Scandinavian sensation had a historic campaign last season, scoring 52 goals in all competitions, and while he may have not hit those heights so far in this campaign, he is still finding the back of the net better than everybody else in the Premier League. The Leeds-born striker has 22 goals to his name in all competitions, but like Bellingham, his season has been curtailed by a significant injury. He has recently recovered from the stress fracture in his foot and, coupled with Kevin De Bruyne's return, Haaland will be looking to pull away once again in the goalscoring charts.
Here are the top five top goalscorers across all competitions, and who they ply their trade for, in Europe's top five leagues, as per Transfermarkt:
Lautaro Martinez, Inter Milan, 25 goals
While you would expect to find Haaland on a list such as this one, perhaps a name one would not have been expecting is Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez. The Nerazzurri have got little recognition for their form in this campaign, but manager Simone Inzaghi has built on their journey to the Champions League final last season, and they are now one of the best-performing teams in all of Europe. Spearheading their attack is their Argentine captain, who has scored 25 goals in 33 games in all competitions. He is seven goals ahead of the next best goalscorer in Serie A as he looks to capture his first-ever Capocannoniere (the Italian top flight's Golden Boot) prize.
Harry Kane, Bayern Munich, 31 goals
A man who has an abundance of Golden Boot titles is Harry Kane. The England captain has one from the 2018 FIFA World Cup and three from the Premier League, but this season he is on course to capture one in a new league, the Bundesliga. The London-born attacker has 27 goals in that competition alone, and 31 across all competitions. While a Kicker-Torjagerkanone (translates to "kicker-goal hunter cannon") trophy would likely be appreciated by Kane, he moved to Bayern Munich at the beginning of the season to win a team trophy, something which has so far eluded England's all-time top goalscorer.
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Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain, 32 goals
A player who is on a similar quest is Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe. For all the Ligue 1 titles he has to his name, the one trophy that has escaped him is the UEFA Champions League. This season, it seems he will try one last time for Europe's biggest prize with Les Parisiens, and with his four goals in the competition, he could well be on his way. Those four strikes form a small part of his stunning 32-goal catalogue so far this season, a tally that makes him the most prolific attacker in Europe as things stand.
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