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The European Golden Shoe is an award given out to the top scorer in European leagues since 1967/1968. The award is handed out by European Sports media.
Coefficients are given out to leagues based on their UEFA ranking. Hence, fewer goals scored in a tougher league are ranked higher than more goals in a weaker league.
The goals are multiplied by a factor of 2 in the leagues ranked one to five (LaLiga - Ligue 1), while leagues ranked six to twenty-one (Russian Premier League - Belarus Vyseyshaya) are multiplied by a factor of 1.5 and leagues ranked twenty-two and below are multiplied by one.
The award has been won by some of the most legendary players of the past such as Eusebio, Gerd Muller and Marco van Basten, as well as modern icons such as Thierry Henry, Francesco Totti, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi who is also the current holder of the award, after winning it for a record fifth time at the end of the just concluded season.
Having entered a new year, the race is beginning to narrow down to the usual suspects although there are one or two surprises. In this piece, we present the top 10 candidates in the race for the 2019 European Golden Shoe.
(Note: All stats correct as of 2 January 2019)
#10 Emiliano Sala (Nantes)
League - France's Ligue 1
Goals - 12 (24 points)
The Argentine has been in fine form for Nantes ever since his 2015 transfer from Girondins Bordeaux.
He has scored 42 league goals for the club in 116 Ligue 1 matches, and in October 2018 became the first Nantes player to score a Ligue 1 hat-trick since Mamadou Diallo in February 2006.
So far this campaign, Sala has scored 12 goals and laid on two assists in 16 Ligue 1 matches, and the 28-year-old finds himself second in the scorers' chart of France.
#9 Luka Jovic (Eintracht Frankfurt)
League - Germany's Bundesliga
Goals - 12 (24 points)
The 20-year-old Serbian international is currently on loan in the Bundesliga from Benfica, but he has taken to the Commerzbank Arena like a fish to water.
He had a fairly impressive debut campaign with Frankfurt, scoring eight league goals in 22 Bundesliga appearances, while also appearing five times in the triumphant DFB Pokal run in 2018 scoring the decisive goal in the semi-final win over Schalke. His performances saw him rewarded with a spot on the plane to the World Cup in Russia with Serbia.
Thus far this season, he has taken his goalscoring exploits a notch higher, and in October became the youngest ever player in Bundesliga history to score five goals in a single match when he did so in the 7-1 victory over Dusseldorf.
Jovic currently has 12 Bundesliga goals this term to help his club to sixth place on the standings, while he has also contributed five goals in as many matches in the Europa League to help his side qualify top of their group having impressively won all six of their group stage matches.
At this rate, it is hard to imagine Frankfurt not taking up their option of making his move permanent at the end of the season.
#8 Paco Alcacer (Borussia Dortmund)
League - Germany's Bundesliga
Goals - 12 (24 points)
Unarguably one of the best loan signings of the season, Paco Alcacer has been nothing short of spectacular since his loan transfer from Barcelona. Having struggled to nail down a regular spot at Camp Nou for two seasons, the 25-year-old has become a darling at the Wesfalenstadion.
Since his arrival in Germany, Alcacer has taken to the Bundesliga like a Fish to water, looking nothing like the player who struggled for form and confidence at Barcelona.
So far this season, he has scored 12 league goals in 502 minutes played (at an astonishing ratio of 42 minutes/goal) to stay joint-top of the scorers' chart in Germany, as well as keep Dortmund top of the standings (six points clear of Bayern Munich). It came as no surprise when the club activated its option of making the two-year loan deal permanent barely four months into the contract.
#7 Mo Salah (Liverpool)
League - England's Premier League
Goals - 13 (26 points)
Having initially struggled to match the heights reached last season where he scored a whopping 44 goals across all competitions and had a clean sweep of all the individual awards in England, Mo Salah is settling back into devastating form.
The 25-year-old Egyptian currently has 13 goals from 20 EPL matches, while also contributing an impressive seven assists to help The Reds maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign which currently sees them topping the Premier League table with a six-point gap over second-placed Tottenham.
Mo Salah's form was crucial to Liverpool's run last season and this was evident by how they struggled in his absence after the Egyptian dislocated his shoulder in last season's UCL final with Real Madrid. With even more at stake this season, fans of The Reds would be hoping their number 11 can keep up his impressive form, as it could help end their three-decade wait for league glory.
#6 Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
League - France's Ligue 1
Goals - 13 (26 points)
What a year 2018 was for Kylian Mbappe.
The prodigiously talented Frenchman burst onto world consciousness with his performances for Monaco in their fairytale 2016/2017 season where they won the Ligue 1 title ahead of French moneybags PSG and made it to the semi-final of the UCL.
Mbappe broke a number of Champions League records in that magical run, and his performances sealed him a mega move to PSG which made him the second most expensive player of all-time (behind teammate Neymar), as well as the most expensive teenager in the history of football.
Since then, Mbappe's career rise can only be described as the stuff of legends. He has been named the Golden Boy, became a World Cup winner, he was also the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pele almost exactly sixty years ago, has been nominated for the Ballon d'Or, won the inaugural Trophee de Kopa, and been established as a bonafide global star - all before he turns 21.
Mbappe has achieved more than most people achieve in three generations in just three years of being a professional footballer, and with him firmly in the race for the 2019 European Golden Shoe, winning it would only serve as a sidebar in what is destined to be an illustrious career.
Kylian Mbappe is the next big thing in football, and it is safe to say that he has the world at his feet (literally).
#5 Krzysztof Piatek (Genoa)
League - Italy's Serie A
Goals - 13 (26 points)
Perhaps the biggest revelation of the season in all of Europe. Piatek is a 23-year-old Polish international, who had spent all of his previous professional career in the Polish leagues.
After scoring 21 goals during the 2017/2018 Estraklasa in Poland which saw him finish as the third highest goalscorer in the Polish top division, Genoa paid €4 million for his services to Cracovia at the start of June.
Owing to his relatively obscure past, not much was expected from Piatek on his arrival in Serie A, but he has absolutely shocked everyone with his performances thus far, The Pole currently sits second on the Serie A scorers chart with 13 goals, higher than established superstars such as Mauro Icardi, Eden Dzeko and Ciro Immobile.
Earlier this season, he became the first man since the legendary Gabriel Batistuta to score in each of his first seven Serie A matches, and he is surely looking like a bargain for the price he was bought.
Piatek has scored over half of Genoa's goals in Serie A this season, and if the club is to become established in the Italian top-flight, then Piatek's goals would be crucial to that.
#4 Harry Kane (Tottenham)
League - England's Premier League
Goals - 14 (28 points)
Arguably the most lethal striker in Europe over the last three seasons, Harry Kane was the EPL Golden Boot winner in consecutive seasons in 2016 and 2017. But for an unfortunate injury last season, he might have made it three on the trot.
He endured a couple of loan spells early on in his career but became established in the Spurs lineup in 2014 following the struggles of big money flop Roberto Soldado, and since then the 25-year-old has not looked back.
Incredibly, he outscored both Ronaldo and Messi in the calendar year of 2017 and has broken a plethora of goalscoring records in just a few years of playing top-flight football.
Harry Kane is a goalscorer of the highest proportions and he established his pedigree at the World Cup where he was named the Golden Boot winner, and with him in their ranks, Spurs can be confident of achieving their season's objectives.
#3 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
League - England's Premier League
Goals - 14 (28 points)
Establishing himself as an elite striker with his performances for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finished as the Bundesliga top scorer in 2017 with 31 goals from 32 matches ahead of Robert Lewandowski.
He fell out with the BVB board and was agitating for a move away from Germany, pleading for one of Europe's big sides to come and take him away.
It, therefore, came as a surprise when none of the established European clubs sought his services, especially when most of them, including Chelsea and Manchester United, had problems in the striking department.
As it happened, Arsene Wenger was the one with the foresight to bring the 29-year-old to the EPL, splashing a club record fee to sign him on transfer deadline day in January 2018.
To say that Aubameyang has repaid the investment would be a massive understatement, as he has scored 24 goals in just 34 EPL matches.
This season, Aubameyang has been exquisite, sitting joint-top of the Premier League scorers chart with 14 goals (which is no mean feat when you consider the quality of attackers on display in the league). And in Arsenal's quest to reclaim a top-four spot, the Gabonese's goals would be crucial.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
League - Italy's Serie A
Goals - 14 (28 points)
Are there still any words in the dictionary to describe this man?
Cristiano Ronaldo has broken, set and reset records throughout his career, and his personal milestones (alongside Messi) are so great that there is a website dedicated to just the stats of the pair.
He is the all-time record goalscorer for Real Madrid, as well as the Portuguese national team and in the Champions League, as he seems to have mastered the art of goalscoring, making it look so easy.
His numerous Golden Boots serve as an illustration of his prowess in front of goal, and even at the grand 'old' age of 33 he still seems to be waxing strong.
When Ronaldo was transferred to Juventus for a club and league record fee in the summer, many scoffed at the Old Lady for expending such amount on a player many saw to be past his prime, and Ronaldo's early season struggles seemed to lay credence to their spurious claims.
However, keen followers of Ronaldo's career know that impossible as a word does not exist in his dictionary, and he uses criticism as a springboard to silence his critics.
He has rediscovered his scoring boots, and currently sits top of the Serie A scorers charts with 14 goals from 19 matches, and while he may have lost out on the individual awards to Luka Modric this year, his personal battle with Lionel Messi remains.
As such, the Portuguese would be keen to add a fifth European Golden Shoe to his burgeoning collection to match the Argentine's haul (and despite turning 34 next February, don't count against him achieving that).
#1 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
League - Spain's LaLiga
Goals - 15 goals (30 points)
Anyone anywhere in the world who does not instantly recognize Lionel Messi has probably been living under a rock for the last 15 years or had his/her memory wiped out - the Argentine's impact has been that far-reaching.
Ever since he burst onto the scene as a funny looking but mesmerizing talented 18-year-old at the 2005 U20 World Cup hosted in the Netherlands, it has all been an upward trajectory for Lionel Messi in a way arguably not ever seen before.
Messi's records are so numerous that repeating them here would be an exercise in futility, while his rivalry with Ronaldo has been the stuff of myths and legends, and if you did not witness it first hand, it would be tempting to discard it as an old wives' tale.
Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest player of all time, but beyond that, he is unarguably the greatest playmaker of his generation (and possibly in history), seeing spaces that no one else sees, and having the wherewithal to exploit them with pin-point dead accurate passes.
Beyond his playmaking abilities, Lionel Messi is also a goalscorer of the highest proportions, and this is perhaps best evidenced by the fact that he has won the European Golden Shoe a record-breaking five times.
Having been snubbed off the individual awards for the last couple of seasons (and not even making a podium finish this year), Lionel Messi has begun the season like a house on fire. He had a shoulder injury earlier in the campaign which halted his progress, but he returned earlier than expected and is almost on a one-man mission to restore his pride of place as the best player in the world.
In just 15 LaLiga matches, Messi has scored 15 goals, also adding 10 assists to help Barcelona sit top of the LaLiga standing. You can bet that he is the odds-on favourite to maintain the lead in this race to get his record-extending sixth European Golden Boot once the season comes to an end (although Ronaldo might have something to say about that).
