Top scorers in 2023: Erling Haaland and his 44 goals kept him clear of Kane and Mbappe
Erling Haaland scored 44 goals in 2023 and that kept him clear of the competition despite playing no football in the final weeks of the year.
Mbappe led the 2022 top goalscorers list by six goals from the old man Robert Lewandowski at Barcelona. But he could not win France the World Cup, the daft fraud.
The criteria: All club goals in all competitions for clubs in Europe’s top 10 leagues.
10) Mo Salah – Liverpool (30 goals)
Liverpool’s star man cracked the top 10 as the winter breaks kicked in around the continent but not in crazy old England, where Salah has played a ludicrous number of games. His ‘one goal every 140 minutes’ record is easily the ‘worst’ on this list.
9) Hugo Cuypers – Gent (31 goals)
Gent are absolutely smashing their way through the Conference League for the second consecutive season and Cuypers has been key. He was also the Belgian league’s top scorer last season.
8) Luuk de Jong – PSV (32 goals)
Nearly a decade on from a seriously poor Newcastle spell, De Jong is in the form of his life for PSV. He has scored 19 goals this season and helped the runaway Eredivisie leaders to a Champions League knock-out place.
7) Vangelis Pavlidis – AZ Alkmaar (36 goals)
The Greek international striker is right up alongside Santiago Gimenez in the Eredivisie scoring charts this season, already passing the double-figure mark for the fifth consecutive season in the Dutch league. He has also found his level in the Conference League, scoring three in the group stages.
6) Mauro Icardi – Galatasaray (36 goals)
Galatasaray have made Icardi’s loan move from PSG permanent after an excellent season which powered the Lions to the Turkish title and he scored 16 goals before December 31, including one to beat Manchester United.
5) Lautaro Martinez – Inter Milan (37 goals)
There was disappointment in the Champions League final but Martinez put together his third 20-goal Inter season, and the most prolific campaign of his entire career thus far. He had already reached 17 goals by the turn of the year as Inter have been pretty imperious in both Italy and Europe.
4) Santiago Gimenez – Feyenoord (37 goals)
After ending last season like a train, the Mexican carried his form into this campaign with 20 goals, including hat-tricks v Ajax and Excelsior and a brace v Lazio in the Champions League. No wonder Arsenal were interested.
3) Kylian Mbappe – PSG (42 goals)
No goals in defeats to Bayern Munich, Rennes, Lyon or Nice kept him well off the early pace in 2023, though 10 goals in the last eight Ligue Un games put the bully back on a flat track. Finished the Ligue Un season as champion and top scorer. After a summer of drama, he scored 21 goals in 21 games, including a hat-trick v Stade Reims. His 42 goals came from just 44 games in 2023.
2) Harry Kane – Spurs/Bayern Munich (43 goals)
The fraudulent one-season wonder produced a 30-goal Premier League campaign for that Tottenham team. Is he actually… good? His stats last season were ridiculous. And he is casually scoring a whole raft of goals for Bayern, including an absurd Puskas contender from inside his own half in a hat-trick against Darmstadt. Casually followed that up with another hat-trick against Borussia Dortmund. That’s three Bundesliga hat-tricks. And four in the Champions League.
1) Erling Haaland – Manchester City (44 goals)
A 52-goal debut campaign. His first season in the Premier League was ridiculous from Haaland and his second started with a drought-ending brace against Burnley and a strike v Sheffield United before a hat-trick to demolish Fulham. There’s been a lot of nonsense talk about him being off form but he still casually scored 19 goals before the new year, six times claiming at least two goals. He kept top spot here despite not playing much football in December.
