The European golden shoe is awarded to the player who scores the highest number of league goals in a season in any of the European leagues, while taking into consideration the UEFA factor awarded to that league.
Several high profile names in the past have won the prestigious award. In recent times, it has been dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo holds the record for the most wins in history with 4 golden shoes while Messi has 3. The 31-year-old once again leads the way in La Liga this season with both Luis Suarez and Messi slowly catching up to him. But is he the highest scorer in Europe? Here are the top 5 contenders for the Golden Shoe.
5) Robert Lewandowski - Bayern Munich
Robert Lewandowski is considered one of the most lethal strikers in world football. He made his name in Dortmund helping them win the Bundesliga title two times. He then moved to arch rivals Bayern Munich in 2014.
His first season at the club did not meet the high standards expected of him. He only managed 17 goals in 31 appearances. But this season the Polish international has been in thrilling form. He has already managed 25 goals in 26 appearances and has overtaken Pierre-Emerick Aubamenyang as top scorer in Germany.
Aubameyang was in sensational form this season and was top scorer in the league for a good amount of time. Lewandowski, on the other hand did not always make the starting XI in the first few matches but one particular game changed everything.
In a match against Wolfsburg, Bayern found themselves trailing by a goal at the Allianz arena. Pep Guardiola decided to turn to his striker and he came on at half-time in place of Juan Bernat. What followed next was almost indescribable.
The Pole scored five goals in the space of nine short minutes as turned a game where the home side were losing 1-0 into a 5-1 thrashing. Ever since that day he hasn’t stopped scoring and with a wealth of creativity in the team you can be assured he will fight till the end to try and top the scoring charts.
4) Luis Suarez - Barcelona
Luis Suarez has been in amazing scoring form this season. The Barcelona forward has netted an incredible 43 goal across all competitions in 2015/16. The Uruguayan was also leading the scoring charts a few weeks ago but Ronaldo has overtaken him since.
Suarez has 26 goals in La Liga but has failed to find the net in his last two games. He missed the game against Getafe at home after Luis Enrique decided to rest him and then didn’t give his best performance against Villarreal last weekend.
Suarez started his Barcelona career a little later that usual because of his ban. Despite missing the first eight matches last season Suarez still managed to score 16 goals in 27 first team appearances. But this year he has taken his game to the next level.
Suarez is only two goals behind his Real Madrid rival and will back himself to try and once again reclaim top spot in the race. With Messi and Neymar also in the Barcelona team, his scoring rate will only improve considering how well the three players combine on the pitch.
3) Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid
Ronaldo is not a surprising name on this list considering the number of goals he scores season after season. The striker has 28 goals so far in La Liga two goals ahead of fellow contender Luis Suarez.
He has already won the award four times and is the first player to do so in the history of the game. The Portuguese had a slow start to the season scoring only once in his first six games.
But since then he has not stopped scoring and looks the same old mercurial forward we are all used to watching. Ronaldo is currently 6 goals ahead of Lionel Messi in the league with the Argentine having won the award three times himself, but it does seem like he will find it difficult to equal his rival's record with only a few games remaining.
Ronaldo has been one of the best players on the planet for quite some time now. Despite him being number three on this list he is still favourite to win the award because of the incredible scoring consistency he has shown over the years. But having said that he is not the top contender yet.
2) Gonzalo Higuain – Napoli
Gonzalo Higuain is the next of the top three contenders on this list having scored 29 goals this season. The former Real Madrid forward has helped Napoli really challenge for the Scudetto this term.
His goal scoring prowess helped the club to the top of the table and they stayed there for quite some time until they lost an all important clash against Juventus recently which meant the Old Lady overthrew their rivals to claim top spot.
But take nothing away from the striker’s contribution to the team. Higuain has been a good performer for Napoli since he joined the club in 2013 but this season has been his standout year.
The striker is miles ahead of any of his competitors in Italy and he is enjoying his best year in terms of goals return. His goal tally this season is already his highest ever total with his previous best being 27 goals during the 2009-10 season while he was at Real Madrid.
He is currently ahead of Ronaldo in the race for the European Golden Shoe, but will have to continue this amazing run to have a chance of beating the Portuguese to the award.
1) Jonas - SL Benfica
The surprising leader for this year’s golden shoe winner is Benfica’s striker Jonas who has 29 goals to his name. The Portuguese league has been given a UEFA factor of 2.0 equal with Spain, Italy and England allowing Jonas to be highest in the rankings despite playing a lesser known league.
Jonas was not a prolific striker in his past stints. He played for a few Brazilian clubs that included Gremio and Santos in the early part of his career. At Santos, he only managed to score once in his 12 appearances.
He joined Valencia in 2011 and spent four seasons with the Spanish club scoring 36 times in 112 appearances. But apart from a few flashes of brilliance, he did not really establish himself as a reliable forward in the team.
He rescinded his contract in 2014 and joined Portuguese giants Benfica. And at the age of 31, he seems to have found his shooting boots, scoring an amazing 49 goals in his 54 appearances.
This season alone he has managed 29 goals in 27 league appearances and received a call-up to the Brazilian national side. With a star-studded chasing pack hot on his heels, Jonas’ consistency of scoring will be tested. But if he does manage to maintain this rate it will be an amazing achievement.
