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It is often said that strikers get most of the attention for a team’s performance because they score a lot of goals and it is true, there is no denying that.
However, there is always huge pressure on strikers to score goals and if their numbers are not up to mark, then very few people care enough to judge the striker on their overall performance.
All top clubs are constantly on the watch for good strikers even if they already have another in their ranks. You can never have too much is often a policy adopted with strikers.
Manchester City once had a strike force of Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli. Now, each of them leads their own team. Similarly, Real Madrid once had a strike force of Raul, Ronaldo and Michael Owen.
Good strikers are always in demand but one bad move might be enough for a striker to derail his career. Hence, many strikers opt to stay at a club they are comfortable at for an extra season or two.
There is also the case of good strikers playing for decent teams because of the money they pocket. Irrespective of the reasons, many top strikers currently play for a team that is surely a notch or two below their level and here are five such strikers.
#1. Andrea Belotti (Torino)
Andrea Belotti once lived in the shadow of his strike partner at Palermo, Paulo Dybala, who now plays for another Turin based club. That alone shows how different the directions of their career are.
However, since leaving Palermo in 2015, Belotti has gone from strength to strength. His only season in Serie A with Palermo saw a return of 6 goals in 38 league games. He doubled that tally in his first season at Turin while playing three games fewer.
It was in the subsequent season that he showed how good he can be by racking up 28 goals in 38 games for Torino across all competitions.
The Italian’s terrific season also earned him a spot in the national team where he has gone on to score four times in 11 games after making his debut in August 2016. He also appeared on the radar of several top European clubs including Chelsea and Milan but he opted to stay at Torino despite all the speculations regarding his future.
This is understandable because the World Cup is a year away and a wrong move could severely hamper his chances of making the squad. Plus, there is also competition from the likes of Ciro Immobile, Eder and Manolo Gabbiadini.
The 23-year-old striker has scored three goals this season and his staying with Torino will certainly help them realize their ambitions for the season.
#2. Anthony Modeste (Tianjin Quanjian F.C)
France is a country with many top class strikers. Off the top of my head, I can name Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Alexandre Lacazette, Kylian Mbappe and Kevin Gameiro. This is probably why a French striker who scored 25 goals in Bundesliga for FC Koln last season doesn’t even come into the picture.
Meet Anthony Modeste, the French striker whose Bundesliga goal tally last season was bettered by only Robert Lewandowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The 29-year-old striker played two seasons for Koln scoring 45 times in 71 games before joining Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian on loan for two years.
Modeste is a late bloomer but he showed in the last two seasons that he has the ability to be a top striker. Aged 29, he could have opted to play in Europe longer but with almost no chance of making the national team, it is understandable that he opted to go to Chin a to make a good living while he is still in demand.
#3. Javier Hernandez (West Ham United)
Javier Hernandez or Chicharito or Little Pea as he is fondly called is a striker that often divides opinion but is still loved by many.
Hernandez a traditional number 9 who can be found at the right place at the right time to put the ball in the back off the net. But with managers demanding more than just goals from strikers these days, it might explain why Hernandez was sold by Manchester United despite having one of the best minutes per goal ratio in Premier League history.
The Mexican striker scored 59 times in 157 games for Manchester United but that hardly does justice to his talent as he was used a super-sub (to good effect) on many occasions.
He had a loan spell at Real Madrid playing second fiddle to Karim Benzema, but he still managed to find the back of the net 9 times.
In 2015, he moved to Germany to play for Bayer Leverkusen with whom he scored 39 goals in 76 outings. It looked like he found a club which suited him but the 29-year-old made a return to the Premier League with West Ham in the summer.
This move was surprising to many and West Ham’s poor start to the season has not helped the case. Nevertheless, he has scored twice for the Hammers already.
#4. Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
Ciro Immobile started his senior career with Juventus but he couldn’t cut it with the Italian giants and hence, moved from club to club before eventually finding his feet at Torino.
He won the Serie A Golden Boot in 2013-14 with Torino after scoring 22 goals in 33 appearances. This earned him a move to Borussia Dortmund but it proved to be a wrong one for the Italian.
Immobile eventually returned to Italy on loan at Torino in 2016, scoring 5 goals in 14 appearances before making a permanent switch to Serie A with Lazio in 2016.
Since moving to Lazio, Immobile has found the form that won him the Golden Boot a few years ago. His first season at Lazio saw him score 23 goals in 36 league games and 26 goals in 41 games overall.
He carried that form into the new season with a hat-trick against a new look Milan side taking his tally for the season to 6 goals in 4 games.
The Italian certainly has the attributes to play for a top club but one failed move and the precious time he lost during that period seems to have made him quite apprehensive. If he can continue this form, then a move back to Juventus is not far-fetched.
#5. Carlos Tevez (Shanghai Shenhua)
Carlos Tevez’s career choices have often raised many eyebrows. In 2006, he made a surprise move to Europe with West Ham and a year later, he joined Manchester United.
After two seasons with Man Utd, he opted to join their cross-town rivals, Manchester City much to the anger of the United fans. In 2015, after two good seasons with Juventus, he opts to move back to Argentina to play for Boca Juniors when he was just 31.
After nearly two years back in Argentina, he was again on the move and this time to China to play for Shanghai Shenhua. This move might be the least surprising one of the lot as he reportedly became the world’s highest paid player!
Although Tevez is now 33-years-old, he still has it in him to play for a top club in Europe but as we all know, it is not easy to turn down an offer from China.
He hasn’t been at his spectacular best at China as he has scored just twice in twelve games. That being said, his game is not just about goals.
