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#3 Edin Dzeko – Inter Milan
When it comes to unfairly rated centre-forwards, very few can hold a candle to Inter Milan star Edin Dzeko. Throughout his career, the Bosnian has served as a classic centre-forward.
He possesses impressive off-the-ball movement, is brilliant in the air, and can outmuscle almost any defender in the world. Despite having every required trait in his locker, he has often struggled to receive the plaudits he deserves.
Despite winning a couple of league titles at Manchester City, Dzeko found it difficult to express himself at the Etihad Stadium. Having played second-fiddle to the great Sergio Aguero for over four years, he finally decided to leave for Roma in 2015.
In Rome, he got the opportunity to lead the line and managed to thrive in the limelight. Between 2015 and 2021, he featured in 260 games for the Serie A giants, registering 119 goals and 55 assists.
Following a successful spell at Roma, he moved to Inter ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.
Since then, he has registered 16 goals and eight assists in 37 appearances across all competitions for his new employers.
#2 Thomas Muller – Bayern Munich
Easily the most decorated forward to feature on our list today, Thomas Muller remains criminally underrated despite winning it all with Bayern Munich and Germany.
The Bayern academy graduate has made 615 appearances for the senior team so far, scoring 224 goals and providing 240 assists.
He has so far won 10 Bundesliga titles, two Champions League trophies and six DFB Pokal cups amongst other honors in Bayern's colors.
He has been wildly successful for Germany too. He scored five goals in the 2010 World Cup to win the Golden Boot. Four years later, he helped his team to the title in Brazil.
He scored a hat-trick against Portugal and netted a goal against Brazil en route to the final. How he has still not won the Ballon d’Or is beyond us.
#1 Olivier Giroud – AC Milan
Former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud is arguably the most underrated forward of the 21st century. From plying his trade at the biggest clubs to winning the World Cup, the Frenchman has done it all.
Yet, the football fraternity refuses to give him the recognition he thoroughly deserves.
Giroud's only league title of his career came for Montpellier in the 2011-12 season. His tally of 21 goals and 12 assists in the French top-flight earned him a €12million move to Arsenal at the end of the season.
He represented the Gunners for five-and-a-half seasons, scoring 105 goals and winning three FA Cups. In January 2018, he moved to Chelsea and helped them to the FA Cup trophy in his debut season itself.
His exploits earned him a call-up to the national team and he ended up lifting the World Cup in Russia. Giroud also played a key role in Chelsea’s 2020-21 Champions League triumph.
Although he didn’t feature in the final, he scored six goals in the competition, including a four-goal haul against Sevilla in a group-stage fixture.
Giroud is currently sporting AC Milan colors and recently fired them to the top of Serie A with an instinctive finish against rivals Napoli. He has scored 11 goals and provided three assists in 27 appearances across competitions since joining the Italian giants last summer.
