With a remaining round in La Liga, Kylian Mbappé is close to clinching the 2024/25 Golden Boot. The French striker of Real Madrid is on 29 goals in the domestic league and has 58 points in the European race.
He needs just one more to surpass Sweden's Gyökeres, of Sporting, with 39 goals in the Portuguese League and 58.5 points. And the last game falls on Saturday at the Santiago Bernabéu against Real Sociedad, and it is set up for it. And all indications point to Mbappé hunting that goal as if last.
Statistics that tell it all
Mbappé is in peak form since coming to Real Madrid. He has scored 41 goals this season in 55 matches in all competitions. In the Spanish league, he scored eight goals in the last five matches. That includes a hat-trick against Barcelona, a box-to-box goal in the comeback 2 to 1 win against Mallorca, and another in the 2 to 0 win over Sevilla last Sunday.
And the statistic here that really jumps out: seven of those goals were scored from outside the box. No one in Europe had that many, except Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, who also has seven.
Golden Boot fight heating up
The fight for the title of top scorer in Europe is going head to head. Sporting forward Viktor Gyökeres netted 39 goals in the Portuguese League. Since goals in the Portuguese domestic league count for 1.5 points each, he's the top scorer with 58.5 points. Mbappé has 29 La Liga goals with every goal counting for 2 points and standing at 58 points. A single additional goal on Saturday, and he's the leader. And he's not the only one who is yet in the running. Salah has 28 Premier League goals and 56 points. Harry Kane (52 points, 26 goals) and Lewandowski (50 points, 25 goals) are on the list but in second position.
Mbappé already has a World Cup win under his belt, has won Ligue 1, played Champions League finals, and has carried PSG for many decades. But that Golden Boot remains on the shelf. And 2024/25 might be the season that fills it. To capture this award in his first season in the Real Madrid uniform would be deeply symbolic. It would be a premiere that lived up to all the hype and a strong admonishment to those who doubted his move to Spain.