Erling Haaland scored 44 goals last year and that kept him clear of the competition despite playing no football in the final weeks of 2023.
He ended 2023 one goal ahead of Harry Kane and one more ahead of Kylian Mbappe, and that trio will be expected to dominate 2024 again for Manchester City, Bayern Munich and PSG/Real Madrid.
The criteria: All club goals in all competitions for clubs in Europe’s top 10 leagues.
10) Phil Foden (Manchester City) – 18 goals
How fitting that Foden scored twice on the final day of the season as City claimed their fourth Premier League title in a row. He was phenomenal last season. He is also tied with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Cole Palmer and Vinicius Junior on 18 goals.
9) Alexander Sorloth (Villarreal/Atletico Madrid) – 19 goals
Four goals on the final day of the season v Real bloody Madrid took the former Crystal Palace striker past the 20-goal mark in La Liga. And helped earn him a move to Atletico Madrid, for whom he scored an equaliser on his debut against Villarreal.
8) Michy Batshuayi (Fenerbahce/Galatasaray) – 19 goals
Has already scored three goals in 96 minutes of football for his new club, though Mauro Icardi will take some shifting from the starting line-up.
7) Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona) – 20 goals
There’s life in the old dog yet. He’s still starting (and scoring three in two) for Barcelona at the grand old age of 35.
6) Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) – 20 goals
He scored the most goals of any player in their debut Bundesliga campaign. And indeed the most goals he himself has ever scored in a single campaign, with 44. But he still ended the season without a trophy and that will never not be funny. Started the new season with a late goal after coming off the bench.
5) Luuk de Jong (PSV Eindhoven) – 22 goals
PSV dropped 11 points in the entirety of the Eredivisie season and De Jong’s form – at the age of 33 – was a major factor. Twenty-nine goals and 15 assists in a league season is fire. Started the new season with two goals in the Dutch equivalent of the Community Shield and finally netted in his third league appearance.
4) Jonathan David (Lille) – 22 goals
There was a Coupe de France hat-trick to kick of 2024 but since then there has been an avalanche of Ligue Un goals. It’s actually astonishing that he was not targeted more aggressively for a summer transfer. Has already scored three times as Lille’s 24/25 season started early with Champions League qualification.
3) Erling Haaland (Manchester City) – 23 goals
Not bad for a League Two-standard player. And any talk of him being a flat-track bully should be silenced by a two-goal salvo v Spurs that pretty much won Man City the title. Then he started the new season with a goal in his first game and hat-trick in his second.
2) Kylian Mbappe (PSG/Real Madrid) – 24 goals
Being drawn against a side in the sixth tier of French football is handy when you want to make a quick start to the new year. Mbappe scored a hat-trick in a 9-0 win before adding two more goals v a third-tier side. But he failed to turn up twice v Borussia Dortmund as PSG wimped out of the Champions League semi-finals. Started with one in one for Real Madrid with a Super Cup goal.
1) Viktor Gyokeres (Sporting) – 31 goals
No wonder he is a target for half the super-clubs in Europe and also Spurs, bless them. The former Coventry man scored 29 league goals as Sporting cruised towards the Portuguese title. And he has casually started the new season with six goals in his first three league games of 2024/25, scoring a hat-trick in his most recent appearance.
