Lionel Messi may have to give up his crown…
The golden shoe has always been a striker’s dream and is the first step to being considered a legend or a world-class player for their respective clubs, however, for too long it has been dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
After the coronavirus outbreak, the German Bundesliga 2019-20 season returned behind closed doors on Saturday. With Premier League teams resuming training with Serie A and La Liga to commence soon, it is hardly a matter of time before we see bets being placed on the players in the race for the prestigious Golden Shoe for the top goalscorer in the national leagues in Europe.
Lionel Messi has been a serial winner of this award for the past three seasons.
With Ligue 1 suspended, Mbappe and Wissem Ben Yedder (both on 18 goals) are certain to miss out on the prize this year.
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Arsenal striker Pierre Emerick Aubameyang with 17 goals represents Premier League alongside Leicester City’s prolific striker Jamie Vardy netting in 19 goals. Aubameyang’s performances in front of goal will undoubtedly help Arsenal sell him for a reasonable value as he goes into the final year of his contract.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi sit on 21 and 19 goals respectively and will look to push their dominance once the season resumes.
Meanwhile, RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner sits fourth in the ranking with 21 goals heading into next week’s encounter Freiburg at the Red Bull Arena.
Now let’s look at the top 3 contenders,
#3 Erling Haaland
Football sensation Haaland has already impressed managers across Europe during his time at RB Salzburg – netting 16 times in the Austrian Bundesliga – which secured him a move to Dortmund in January. In Germany, he scored a hat-trick during his debut as a substitute. He looks all ready to resume that form, scoring against Schalke on his derby debut after Bundesliga resumed earlier this week. He is sitting on 26 goals.
#2 Robert Lewandowski
He has been one of the deadliest goalscorers in the world over the past decade. The Poland international seems to have stepped his performances up a notch this season and, if he can remain injury-free, he will be confident of mounting a pressing challenge for the Golden Shoe with 26 goals.
#1 Ciro Immobile
The surprise package of the season and having missed out in 17-18 season, Immobile will go all guns blazing to secure the prize this time around. The Italian striker has netted 27 league goals this season and is leading the proceedings. Lazio is sitting in second place in the standings; Immobile can break La Liga dominance and script his name in the awards list.