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Since the turn of the century, several prolific scorers have graced the game. They have fared well for club and country, and some of them are still going strong despite being on the wrong side of 30.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the two obvious names that spring to mind. But there have been other prolific scorers in the last two decades as well who have scored goals galore in the toughest of leagues and competitions.
Without divulging any more names, let's have a look at the ten players with the best goals per game ratio in club football since the turn of the century.
Note: Only players with at least 200 games have been considered. All stats are as per transfermarkt.
#10 Harry Kane - 0.59 (243 goals in 411 games)
Harry Kane has been one of the most prolific strikers in the game in the last few years.
The 28-year-old is coming off a career-best campaign in club football, topping both the goalscoring (23) and assists charts (14). However, despite Kane's exploits, Tottenham Hotspur failed to qualify for the Champions League after leading the Premier League early on.
Kane is one of a handful of players to win three Premier League Golden Boots. With 166 goals, he is the most prolific active scorer in the competition, and seventh overall. He is yet to open his account after six games this season, though, despite starring with four goals in England's run to the Euro 2020 final.
Since making his professional debut almost a decade ago, Kane has been a consistent performer.
Apart from scoring 180 goals in club football, he has netted 43 times in European competitions, with his remaining strikes coming in other cup competitions. He has scored all but 16 of his goals in club football for Tottenham Hotspur.
#9 Neymar - 0.59 (263 goals in 443 games)
Neymar is one of the most exciting and skilful wingers in the game at the moment. The PSG man announced his prowess with Santos, where he scored 70 goals across competitions, before Barcelona snapped him up in the summer of 2013.
The then 21-year-old prospered in a fearsome attacking partnership with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez (more on them later). In only four seasons at the club, the Brazilian scored 105 goals and racked up 76 assists as Barcelona won a continental treble and two league titles.
Determined to win the Ballon d'Or award, Neymar moved to PSG in the summer of 2017 on a world-record transfer. Although he hasn't landed that award yet, the 29-year-old has registered nearly 150 goal contributions (88 goals, 54 assists) and won three league titles.
Neymar is the only player to score 20 Champions League goals for two different clubs. He has scored 41 times in the competition.
The Brazilian has netted 179 league goals in three different countries, with his other strikes coming in various cup competitions.
#8 Edinson Cavani - 0.60 (358 goals in 599 games)
Edinson Cavani is one of the most prolific active scorers in the game. The Uruguayan marksman has scored over 350 goals for four different clubs in three countries.
Cavani arrived at Manchester United on a free transfer last summer after becoming the first player to score 200 goals for PSG. The all-time PSG top scorer scored exactly 200 goals for the Ligue 1 giants in seven successful seasons, winning six league titles.
Before arriving in France, Cavani had scored 104 goals in just three seasons at Napoli to announce himself as one of the deadliest marksmen on the continent. He had scored just 37 times in four seasons at his previous club, Palermo. The 34-year-old has netted 17 times across competitions for his present club, Manchester United.
Cavani has scored 55 times in the Champions League and Europa League (including qualifying). He is one of a handful of players to score over 100 goals in two different top-five leagues in Europe (112 goals in Serie A, 138 goals in Ligue 1).
He has also netted ten times in the Premier League. Cavani's other strikes have come in various cup competitions.
#7 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 0.61 (485 goals in 789 games)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the most prolific scorers this century. The evergreen Swede is still going strong despite turning 40.
Ibrahimovic has turned up for nine different clubs in six different countries during his illustrious career. He has won league titles in four different countries, including three top-five leagues. The AC Milan striker has scored over 150 goals in the continent's top five leagues since turning 30.
Ibrahimovic has scored 148 goals in Serie A, 113 goals in Ligue 1, 35 in the Eredivisie, 17 in the Premier League and 16 in La Liga. He is a three-time Golden Boot winner in Ligue 1 and has done so twice in Serie A.
The Swede has scored 58 goals in the Champions League and Europa League, including qualifiers. He has netted over 50 goals for four different clubs, including 156 for PSG, for whom he was the top scorer before Cavani surpassed him.
#6 Sergio Aguero - 0.64 (378 goals in 588 games)
Sergio Aguero has been a prolific scorer for club and country this century. The 33-year-old spent a highly successful decade-long stint at Manchester City, where he won five Premier League titles.
During his last league game for City, Aguero (184) scored a brace to become the most prolific scorer for a single club in Premier League history. Aguero drew a blank in his first Champions League final, though, as he ended his City career with 260 goals across competitions.
Before arriving in England, Aguero scored exactly 100 goals in a five-season stint at Atletico Madrid. He had commenced his sojourn in Europe after scoring 18 times for Torneo.
Aguero scored 258 goals in leagues across England and Spain, with a further 58 coming in the Champions League and Europa League (including qualifiers). His remaining goals came in other cup competitions.
Now at Barcelona, Aguero is set to make his much-awaited debut for the embattled club this month.
#5 Luis Suarez - 0.65 (429 goals in 664 games)
Luis Suarez is one of the best strikers to have graced the game since the turn of the century.
The Uruguayan commenced his career at Nacional in the early 2000s, where he failed to score. Suarez then arrived in Europe, joining Groningen. After a lone season with them, the then 20-year-old moved to Ajax, where he first made heads turn with his blistering exploits.
Suarez scored over 100 goals in three and a half years in the Dutch capital before Liverpool came calling for his services in January 2011. The Uruguayan burst into life after a slow start, amassing nearly 100 goals in three and a half years. In his last season at Anfield, Suarez scored 31 goals to win the Golden Boot as Liverpool narrowly failed to win the Premier League.
Soon Suarez headed to Barcelona, where he would scale greater heights. During six successful years there, he scored 195 goals, winning a continental treble, a Golden Boot and four La Liga titles. He moved to Atletico Madrid last summer and scored 21 goals to help them win their first league title in seven years.
The Uruguayan has scored 169 goals in La Liga, 69 strikes in the Premier League and 91 goals in the Eredivisie. In the Champions League and Europa League, he has netted 41 times in the Champions League and Europa League, including qualifying.
#4 Kylian Mbappe - 0.67 (163 goals in 242 games)
Kylian Mbappe is arguably the most exciting young player in the game at the moment.
Still only 22, the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner is already a prolific scorer, having tallied over 200 goal contributions (136 goals, 68 assists) in 182 games across competitions for PSG. Before arriving in the French capital, the then-teenager scored 27 times in 60 games for Monaco, with whom he won his first Ligue 1 title.
The three-time Golden Boot winner amassed 42 goals across competitions last season, but PSG were denied a Ligue 1 five-peat by Lille.
Mbappe has amassed 111 goals in Ligue 1, with all but 16 of them coming with PSG. In the Champions League, he has netted 27 times. His other strikes came in various cup competitions. Mbappe has had a quiet start to his 2021-22 campaign, netting only four times in 11 games, but he is expected to pick up the pace soon.
#3 Robert Lewandowski - 0.74 (472 goals in 640 games)
Robert Lewandowski is a quintessential goal machine who scores seemingly for fun. The Polish marksman has amassed 307 goals in just seven seasons with Bayern Munich, winning the league title on every occasion.
Last season, Lewandowski scored 41 times to break the late Gerd Muller's five-decade-old record of most goals (40) scored in a Bundesliga campaign. He is already up to seven in as many games this season.
Prior to his arrival in Munich in the summer of 2014, Lewandowski first made his name as a marksman of repute at Borussia Dortmund. He scored a century (103) of goals in just four seasons at BvB, winning two Bundesliga titles. Before that, he scored 41 times for Lech Poznan and 21 times for Znicz Pruszkow.
Lewandowski has also been a prolific scorer in the Champions League, netting 77 times, including 15 in Bayern's victorious 2019-20 treble-winning campaign. He has also scored once in the Europa League. The Pole (284) is closing in on 300 Bundesliga goals. His other goals have come in various Cup competitions and in the Polish league.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo - 0.75 (679 goals in 901 games)
Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably one of the best players to have played the beautiful game.
During a near two-decade-long career for club and country, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner has scored goals and won big titles galore. Ronaldo (136) is the all-time scorer in the UEFA Champions League, a tally conjured for three different clubs. He has also scored a staggering 450 times for Real Madrid, a record tally for the club.
Last season, the 36-year-old scored 29 goals to win his first Capocannoniere award despite Juventus failing to defend their Serie A title. The campaign saw Ronaldo (101) become the first player to score 100 goals for the Bianconeri in just three seasons for the club.
Now back at his old stomping ground of Old Trafford, Ronaldo is already up to five goals in six games. He netted 118 times for the club during his first stint in the late 2000s. He had scored just five times in his lone season at Sporting Lisbon, which was enough for United to land the prodigy at the club.
Ronaldo has amassed almost 500 league goals in four different countries - 311 in Spain, 87 in England, 81 in Italy and five in his native Portugal. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner's other strikes have come in various cup competitions.
#1 Lionel Messi - 0.85 (673 goals in 783 games)
Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the best players to have played the sport. Like Ronaldo, he has also scored a lot of goals, with all but one of his 673 strikes coming for Barcelona.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner is the all-time La Liga top scorer (474 goals). Meanwhile, his 121 strikes (all but one for Barcelona) in the Champions League are only behind that of Ronaldo.
Messi has won a plethora of big titles - two continental trebles and ten La Liga titles - to name a few. The record eight-time Pichichi winner is the only player to amass 50 league goals in a season across Europe's top five leagues. That's a feat he recorded in 2011-12.
The Copa America 2021 winner has had a slow start to life at PSG, where he moved to this summer. But he is soon expected to rediscover his mojo and start replicating his Barcelona exploits with his new employers.
