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Yes, every team that takes itself seriously needs a solid defense, smart midfielders, and good goalkeepers but the one breed of footballer that every team, and indeed every fan, go to the ends of the Earth searching for are the forwards
After all, forwards are what win you football games - a simple sport where victory goes to the ones who score more goals than the other will always hold the men who net in said goals in high esteem - and here we take a look at the ten best in the business at the moment.
Please note that we have arrived at these rankings, taking a base from last season's displays but mainly focusing on this season's performances and taking into account not just goals, but importance of said goals, importance of the player to the team's way of functioning, and the other statistical metrics, including assists and chances created.
We have also taken into consideration their performance for their respective national teams. Here then, are our top ten forwards in the world at the moment:
#10. Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang
Indescribably fast and blessed with a poacher's instinct and calmness under pressure, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang is the dream modern center-forward... the Gabonese is the sharp tip of the very dangerous spear that is Borussia Dortmund.
The winner of last season's Bundesliga golden boot with 31 goals has started this season on fire as well - netting 8 times in his last 7 league appearances - in total, he has 13 goals in 11 appearances this season and he looks in no mood to give up that hard-earned title of top-scorer in Germany.
He has also been in decent form for Gabon, scoring twice in three appearances this year but has been slightly underwhelming for his national team.
#9. Radamel Falcao
The great Colombian was the top scorer for the top-scoring team in Europe last season (21 goals) and has started this season in a similar vein having already scored 12 goals in just 8 Ligue 1 matches and seems hell-bent to ensure that his team do not miss the magical talents they have lost these summer including the likes of Bernardo Silva, Tiemoue Bakayoko, and of course the inimitable Kylian Mbappe.
This is all the more remarkable considering how he seemed to have utterly lost all of his pizzazz post a career-threatening ACL injury in 2014 that was followed by two horrible years with Manchester United and Chelsea.
Read, Also - To hell and back: the story of Radamel Falcao's miraculous resurrection
Although he's lost a yard or two of that explosive pace that served him so well at Atletico Madrid and Porto, the Colombian is still the ultimate fox-in-the-box and has this uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time... a knack that has been developed over countless hours of dedicated training.
He's back to scoring for his nation too - an important goal that salvaged a point for Colombia against high-flying Brazil being the second of the year for his nation.
#8. Paulo Dybala
La Joya is really quite the jewel isn't he?
Last season he provided a teaser trailer of what he was capable of by scoring 19 goals in 48 appearances, providing 9 assists (both stats for all competitions) and creating 58 chances (in the Serie A alone)
This time around he already has 10 goals in 7 matches - and that's in Serie A alone. Considering he had just 11 Serie A goals to his name last time around, this is a big step up for the young Argentine who is desperate to prove that he is more than worthy of wearing Juventus' famed no. 10 jersey.
Quick on his feet and even quicker in his thinking, Dybala is the ultimate modern no.10 - capable of scoring goals and creating chances at will - his left foot capable of almost anything he sets his mind to.
Perform in the big games, and he's sure to bound up this list.
Like his fellow Argentines, though, his form with the national team is nothing to write home about.
#7. Sergio Aguero
Dybala's senior teammate Sergio Aguero has started this season with a point to prove. After being inexplicably doubted by Pep Guardiola last season (despite scoring 33 in 45 games for Manchester City) and have fallen out of favour with Jorge Sampaoli and the Argentine national team - he exploded into life in the beginning of this season, scoring 7 goals in 8 matches, providing 3 assists (all competitions) and creating 14 chances (just in the Premier League)
He has looked like the fearsome striker of old - capable of winning matches all by his lonesome, his pace, skill, dribbling and quite incredible ability to hit the target from just about anywhere coming back to the fore and he's linked up superbly with Gabriel Jesus as Guardiola (of all the people) has brought back the two-man up top system to the Premier League.
His recent car accident, which is said to have resulted in a couple of broken ribs, will keep him out of action for a while, though, and that may see him slip off this list soon - with so much competition around, that's quite likely to happen sooner rather than later
#6. Robert Lewandowski
The Pole is one of the best "pure" center-forwards of all time, and his performances last season where he smashed in 43 goals in 47 games merely underlined the same. He has started this season in a similar vein, scoring 8 in 7 Bundesliga matches and 12 in 11 in all competitions.
Tall, fast, unbeatable in the air and a player capable of any kind of goal - from the long-range screamer to the 2-yard tap in, from the thumping header to the curled freekick - Lewandowski is the ideal centre-forward and in all honesty, has no discernible weaknesses when looked at from a pure striker's point of view.
Add to this his scintillating form for Poland - for whom he has 12 in 8 - and you've got yourself a pretty in-form striker.
He seems determined to wrest back the title of Bundesliga's top-scorer from Aubameyang, and despite the turmoil, Bayern Munich seem to find themselves in at the moment, it would be a very unwise man who would bet against Lewandowski doing just what he wants.
#5. Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portuguese was so incredible last season, especially when it really mattered most, that it was impossible to keep the great man out of the top 5 list - even if he is suffering a goal drought of sorts at the moment.
He has, of course, netted 4 times in 2 Champions league games, and he can't quite stop scoring for his national team (14 in 7), but he hasn't scored a goal yet in La Liga (although he's played just 3 - such are the high standards he has set for himself that this has become worrying)
Like his teammates keep insisting, this run is not likely to stay for a long period and he will score bucketloads again this season (he started the last season in a similarly slow manner - and ended up the Golden Boot winner in the Champions League while scoring the goals that guided Real Madrid to a long-awaited League title), but for the moment he has a bit of improvement to do.
P.S. There is little doubt he deserves to win the Ballon d'Or this year - solely for his performances in the big matches for Real Madrid last season, Ronaldo's goals don't just win matches, they win you entire tournaments - and that simply can't be overlooked
#4. Romelu Lukaku
Before you start pelting the screen you are reading - let me make it clear that Lukaku is better than Ronaldo at the moment, solely on the basis of current form
The big Belgian maybe in the news at the moment for a rather unfortunate chant that the Old Trafford faithful may have come up with, but he ought to be celebrated for everything that he's doing on the pitch.
Despite having scored bucket-loads for Everton over the past couple of seasons (just how much the Toffees were reliant on him has become oh, so, evident now) he was never recognised as a top-class striker but his move to Manchester United provided him with the perfect opportunity to do so; and he has seized it with both hands. He has scored 7 goals in 7 Premier League games this season, with a tally of 11 in 10 in all competitions.
Apart from the obvious physical attributes of pace and power that he has brought to United, it's his incredible movement on and off the ball that has made United look like genuine contenders on both the domestic and the continental stage.
For Belgium, he has been on fire and has helped them seal World Cup qualification by smashing in 10 goals in the past 7 appearances for the Belgian Red Devils.
#3. Harry Kane
Harry Kane may have just scored the 6 goals in 7 Premier League games (11 in 9 all competitions), but think about the fact that he has some allergy to the month of August (he still hasn't scored a damn goal in the opening month of the season) and you begin to see that in a whole new light.
No one, apart from Lionel Messi, has scored more goals in 2017 than Kane - who also has 3 in 4 for England - and he doesn't look he'll slow down anytime soon.
Last season's Premier League golden boot winner is the ultimate goal-scoring center-forward - he is a brutal, ruthless, finisher whose pace, power and sheer determination to win challenges, duels, and get through on goal is a sight to behold.
He can score with either foot and is a neat header of the world - and will not be long before one of the "bigger" clubs (all due respect to Tottenham Hotspur) come calling, but at the moment Tottenham are what they are simply because of the sensational form their main man finds himself in. Pep Guardiola wasn't kidding when he said the "Harry Kane team" are real candidates for the League title!
#2.. Lionel Messi
What is there to be said about Lionel Andres Messi that has already not been repeated a thousand times across the world over?
He has started this season just like he has started so many - like he wants to win everything all by himself - and already has 14 goals in 11 games this season (including 11 from 7 La Liga games), while he's created 13 chances just in La Liga already.
Under new manager, Ernesto Valverde, the magician seems to have reverted to the false nine position in which he hit his individual peak under Pep Guardiola and he seems to be enjoying using those inimitable dribbling skills in the centre of the park... his finishing as ever exceptional.
If there is one thing that has disappointed, though, it's his form for Argentina - while he's been the sole shining light in Argentina's abysmal World Cup Qualification campaign, he has his work cut out in guiding La Albiceleste to the 2018 World Cup with two tough fixtures coming up.
#1. Neymar Jr.
No one has scored more goals than Leo Messi in 2017, so how in the hell can anyone but the great Argentine be no.1?
Because of the form Neymar Jr. is in at the moment.
The Brazilian has 8 goals in 8 at the moment but has also chipped in with a whopping 7 assists and - this is the kicker - has created a quite astounding 30 (THIRTY) chances in Ligue 1... in just 6 games!
He has played with a freedom and joy that could bring a smile to the hearts of the hardest men on the planet - nimble dancing feet, inspired vision, and deadly shooting all combining to make him the hottest ticket in world football at the moment.
His form with Brazil just accentuates this point - his performances have been pivotal to Brazil being the first, and as yet only, South American nation to qualify for the World Cup and he looks like to be the man of the tournament on the biggest stage of them all!
